


Code Of Conduct

by thoseindarkness



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Academia, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ethical Dilemmas, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Romance, Slow Burn, You can skip the smut, hot for teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 17:04:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoseindarkness/pseuds/thoseindarkness
Summary: Rey is just another student trying to get through her junior year at the University of Miami. She signs up for what should be an easy French class and ends up with more than she bargained for in her smart, sexy teaching assistant, Ben Solo. A series of embarrassing encounters draw them closer together as they skirt the line between appropriate student/teacher relationships and out and out insanity. Will they? Won't they? Time will tell.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpaceWaffleHouseTM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWaffleHouseTM/gifts), [reyofdarkness (mitslits)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitslits/gifts), [BazineApologist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BazineApologist/gifts).



> For those of you who love a romance without all the explicit depictions of sex I welcome you to read through and stop at chapter 4. You get your happy ending without all the _'happy ending'_. For those of you who live for the smut, it's in chapter 5.
> 
> This was initially intended as a one-shot that ballooned out of control. I have broken it out into chapters for your convenience. Binge it all or take your time. The choice is yours. 
> 
> **DEDICATION**  
>  This fic is for all of my beloved crazies over the Reylo Writing Den. I made a point to rep each house including my own houselessness (Elf life!) to varying degrees of success. 
> 
> A very special thank you to [SpaceWaffleHouseTM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWaffleHouseTM/works) (please check out her works it's awesome) for the 3 hysterically embarrassing prompts that provided the initial inspiration for this story. 
> 
> Thank you to the betas who read this monstrosity as a single readthrough. You are champions of the highest order and deserve all the praise! Brit, I love you! [reyofdarkness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitslits/pseuds/reyofdarkness), please beta all my work forever and ever. You were a lot of fun to work with and I do hope to steal your brilliant mind again. [tm2taughtmefamlaw](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tm2taughtmefamlaw/pseuds/tm2taughtmefamlaw), you always poke at all the holes and I couldn't make these stories as awesome without you. Please check out their work as well. 
> 
> Finally, I want to thank my parents (cheesy I know but bear with me) for a childhood spent wandering the University of Miami campus. It's not just the prompts that happened IRL. So much of my own childhood is in this story. I hope you enjoy it.

Rey had been told many things about her junior year of college. For example, that by the end of her second year things like wearing makeup and looking cute for class would stop happening. That her party habits would fizzle out and she'd be content to sit around in her apartment with her close friends and watch Netflix after a long weekend of studying. That the freshman fifteen would never go away. That everything above a two hundred level would melt her brain out of her ears.

All of these things seemed to be true everywhere that wasn't Miami. In Miami the men were beautiful, the women were more beautiful, and everyone worked so hard at it they transcended biology to achieve a level of grace Rey didn't know human beings were capable of. Going to class in anything less than eyeliner and an artfully messy updo was sacrilege. There were at least four 'getties' (read: parties) every weekend. The freshman fifteen never _showed up_ , negating the need to make it _go away_. Even her classes hadn't turned out to be that hard. Sure, she was an art student, but that didn't make it any easier.

The University of Miami in particular was a microcosm of the best and worst of Miami life. Its heights of affluence and the excesses therein juxtaposed against the families who clawed their way out of abject poverty to send the first college-eligible children in their families to the best damn school in the city.

Rey traversed the campus in early January on her way to closing out the first day of the spring term. She'd chosen an easy class. Accelerated Elementary French. The doubled down version of French 101 and 102. Florida had some language requirement that she'd managed not to meet despite having taken more foreign language courses than anyone she knew. She'd been speaking French since she was child, but that wasn't good enough for the state. It had worked out for the best. She'd crafted her scheduled to make her Monday-Wednesday-Friday afternoons an easy (read: skippable) class.

The small, auditorium-style classroom was nearly full when she arrived. It was a mix of upper and underclassmen. At least fifty. A few more trickled in after she took her seat in the center row. The three o'clock hour rolled around and the podium remained empty. Another minute ticked by. Then another.

"You think he'll show?" the girl in the row below her asked the boy next to her.

He shrugged.

A girl at the front of the room turned to them. "We should wait at least fifteen minutes before assuming the professor is a no-show," she said in a haughty, matter-of-fact tone. Definitely a freshman.

"I give him five," a tall, copper haired boy in the back called; he had an accent. Southern maybe? Rey was no good with the local regional accents. She could tell a northern from a southern Welshman but the difference between a Texan and a Georgian? No clue.

"Well, I think—"

No one found out what the girl in the front row thought because at that moment the door at the rear of the classroom flew open, banging loudly against the wall.

"Shit. Sorry," the man who burst through it said. He lumbered down the steps, his bag flopping against his hip, dark hair flying wildly around his face. He hopped the last two steps and skidded along the floor several inches before breaking for the podium. Not bothering to look up, he dumped his bag on the table and dipped over the computer.

"Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ben Solo. I'll be your TA for this class. Dr. Martinez won't be joining us today. Get used to me saying those words. He doesn't deign to teach the one hundred levels, but we will be following his lesson plans to the letter." He popped up, placed his hands on his hips, and eyed the blank white screen in the front of the class. His slightly wrinkled oxford strained against what looked like well-developed shoulders. "What the hell?" Blue light enveloped him a moment later. "There it is."

He dipped over the computer again and continued his rapid-fire speech. "Apologies for my lateness; you should probably get used to that too. I come from my own classes to teach this one, and I'm on the ass end of campus." He sighed at the machine in front of him. "Today is pretty standard fare. We'll go over the syllabus and the lesson plan, verify your books, and you _will_ be given homework the first week." He abandoned the computer to dig through his bag. "And then there are these." He waved a stack of papers menacingly at them.

"So here's the deal. At least half of you are taking this class because you have to, probably took French in high school and thought it would be easy. You would be wrong. Attendance is mandatory and six absences is a fail." The whole class groaned collectively. "Not my rules. Martinez is old-fashioned. This won't be an easy class. I'm a linguistics major, and I learned things about French my first time teaching this lesson plan. Might I recommend dropping this class before the end of add-drop? There are still spots open in Spanish, and I know German scares most people, but Alvarez is a really great instructor. His class is perfect for people who don't know the first thing about German. It's also half the homework. You have other options."

He handed the stack to the girl in the front row. "This is a quick assessment to determine your current skill level and understanding of the French language. You are required to turn it in to me before the end of the class period. If you fail to do so, you'll be dropped. The instructions are very clear on that. What they do not cover is whether or not you can help each other."

"Isn't that cheating?" the girl in the front row asked.

The TA, whose name Rey hadn't quite caught in the initial data dump, gave the girl in the front row an appraising look. "What's your name?"

"Patty Garcia."

"Well, Patty Garcia, the instructions do not implicitly stipulate that you cannot ask the person next to you so, no, it's not cheating." He turned toward the podium.

"But this is an assessment of our skill level and understanding, not that of the person next to you. The stipulation is implied."

"Let me teach you a life lesson, Ms. Garcia. After you graduate, no one gives a damn what you've managed to memorize, only if you know how to get what you need. You _need_ to turn that piece of paper in. You could answer every question on it with the response _'I have no idea'_ and it wouldn't make an ounce of difference because I'm the only one who's going to read them. More importantly, at least half the people in this room won't be back on Wednesday because they've just been told they can't skip every Friday. So if you don't want to ask for help, don't. Let me worry about what everyone else is doing."

Patty shrunk in on herself. She came off as a bit of a busybody, but Rey felt bad for her all the same.

"Does anyone else have any questions before we begin?" the TA asked.

"Yeah, where are the syllabi?"

"Oh! Shit. Right." Ben lunged toward his bag and pulled out a manila envelope. He handed the contents to the nearest student. "Puff, puff, pass." The girl giggled and he cringed. "Poor choice of words. You get the idea." He returned to the podium. "Let's get started. If we run through this quickly, I can have you out of here in half an hour. Sound good?"

* * *

They got through everything in just under twenty minutes, by the end of which Rey was starting to rethink her desire to drop the class. Ben, as he insisted they all call him, was turning out to be a very interesting instructor.

"Well, that's it for me, folks. To those of you who had no intention of staying, thank you for putting up with my pretension for," he glanced at his watch, "the last twenty minutes. Remember that there are still spots open in other classes. If you're a major masochist intent on actually learning things in college, I welcome you to stay. Everyone else is free to go."

The classroom began to shuffle out slowly. Their group of over fifty shrunk to about twenty or so quickly.

"Mr. Solo?" a voice behind her called.

"Ben," he replied automatically.

"I had a question about the second question."

"Stunningly repetitive. Fire away."

Rey tuned them out, focusing on her own assessment. He'd been right about the difficulty level. It was harder than it needed to be for an introductory course, even an accelerated one. She got through it easily enough. By the time she was finished with it, she'd made up her mind to stay, despite losing her ability to skip. There was something about Ben that intrigued her. He was cute, sarcastic, and really, really, really smart. She'd never been hot for teacher before, and he seemed like he'd make the class fun.

Questionnaire in hand, she made her way to the front of the class, her messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She waited for the handful of students to turn in their assessments. Ben engaged each one, getting the names of the students he hadn't yet spoken to and shaking their hands - or in one case getting a fist bump - before moving on to the next. Rey stepped up, offering her paper to him. He scanned it.

"Rey Kenobi. Any relation to—" His eyes trailed up from the page and immediately looked away, cheeks turning a mild pink. He pointed in her direction with a wiggling finger. "You have… you've… um…"

Rey tracked his finger to her chest, realizing to her horror that her bag had slid not one but two of the buttons on her blouse free. Her lacy, black bralette and copious amounts of boob were on full display.

"Crap." She tugged her shirt closed, redoing the buttons. "Oh god."

"No worries," Ben said, adding her paper to the stack but still not looking at her. "See you on Wednesday. Though, hopefully, less of you."

Rey muttered another apology and sped from the room. On the way back to her house, she seriously considered dropping the class. Unfortunately, she needed the language and had no desire to take Spanish as an alternative. She was stuck with her embarrassing first day.

* * *

While there were drawbacks to living in Coral Gables, chiefly the expense of housing anywhere near the university, there were some definite benefits. The greatest of these was how beautiful the neighborhood was. Developed in the Mediterranean Revival style by George Merrick, it was filled with winding roads, canals, gorgeous houses, and a canopy of Banyan trees that made riding her bike through it feel like traveling through a magical land.

Rey liked to get up early during the week and bike before the traffic started. Her goal was to be off the road by seven. Unfortunately, she'd gotten a late start that morning and there were more people on the roads. She had to pay closer attention to her surroundings. The City of Coral Gables was very particular about their traffic laws, cyclists included.

Distraction came suddenly in the form of a jogger up San Amaro. He was keeping a slow pace, giving her a lovely view of his bare, muscled back and tight behind. She would catch up to him soon enough and hopefully catch a glimpse of the face under the baseball cap. Out of nowhere, he put on a burst of speed, sprinting full tilt down the winding road and disappearing around a corner. Rey was so shocked she turned down the unknown street just to see if she could catch a glimpse of his progress. He was two blocks down by the time she turned. Bent over and panting. It was an exceptional view. Long stretches of taught thigh muscle and tensed calf.

More curious than ever, she pressed on down the road. She was only vaguely familiar with the route. God only knew where she'd end up if she got lost in the Gables. Worst case she could double back to Alhambra or the San Amaro. The jogger began moving again, his delectable backside bouncing as he went. She knew once she passed she'd offer him a view of her own backside. The thought tickled her.

The moment arrived, and she called out to warn him that she was passing. He veered toward the sidewalk, preventing her from getting a decent look at him. She hopped up on her bike and pedaled, returning the favor of the view. Unfortunately, the road led to a dead end, and she was forced to turn back. She caught the jogger slowing to a walk in front of one of the large houses and perked up as he turned.

"Good hustle!" she called.

He spun toward the road, pulling an earbud out of his ear. "What?" His jaw dropped.

_Oh, shit,_ Rey thought. It was Ben. She'd been ogling her TA… again. Only now she'd flashed her tits _and_ ass at him. Given the color rising up his neck, he'd looked.

Why she said what she said next she'd never know, but all that would come out was, "See you tomorrow!" God, she was an idiot.

* * *

Ben turned out to be a fantastic instructor. To his credit, he did not bring up either of Rey's embarrassing moments. Though the way he smiled at her on occasion made her wonder if he was thinking about them. Additionally, he knew his audience and pushed to complete as much of the weekly lectures as possible by Wednesday so they could have a shorter class period on Fridays. The mandatory attendance part meant they still had to show up for at least thirty minutes every day to check in. A short class was still better than a whole class. The first Friday in February was one of those occasions where they had nothing to discuss but still had to attend.

Ben arrived his customary three minutes late and didn't waste time getting underway.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for another rousing game of _what the hell do we do for the next half hour_." He chucked his bag on the desk and clapped those big hands of his together. "Lucky for you, I have an idea." He fished a stack of papers from his bag and a round of groans went around the room. Dr. Martinez was notorious for his impossible exercise sheets.

"Don't stress. These aren't for you. I may be an asshole, but I wouldn't do that to you on a Friday." He propped himself against the desk and smiled. "These are your essays."

That Monday they'd turned in their first major assignment. A short essay written entirely in French about why they'd chosen their major. Over the course of the semester, they would expand and improve on it.

"Some of you have a long way to go, but don't worry, we'll get you there. A couple of you did an excellent job. So much so that I'm going to use two of your essays as a teaching moment." He propped his hip on the desk. "Like every language, tone and structure have a profound impact on how a passage reads. I'm going to read these two very different essays to you, and I'd like us to contrast them." He looked up toward the back of the class. "Matt, I must say, your essay surprised me."

The tall blond with the accent fired back a shit-eating grin. "What can I say? I'm fluent in the language of love."

"That you are, sir." Ben cleared his throat and read the essay aloud.

It was well crafted. There were a few conjugations he missed, but other than that, it was well done. They took a few moments to discuss it as a class. Ben pointed out the way Matt structured sentences while building on the concepts they'd already learned. The essay was written with a formality and a cold separation that one might expect in an academic essay about agriculture. He pulled the next essay from the stack and smiled. Rey knew that smile and what would come next.

"Ms. Kenobi." He sighed. "No preamble, I'm just going to read it."

If she didn't have the biggest crush on him already, listening to him read her essay would have pushed her over the edge. She hadn't meant it to be scandalous, but the way he read it made it sound like French erotica. She'd written about the various art galleries in Europe her grandfather had taken her to growing up. She focused on form, shape, color, light, and how those concepts had evolved for her over time. How travel and perspective were as important, if not more so, than the intention of the artist. The importance of bringing one's own ideas to the table when looking at art. It was everything that made her want to be an artist.

Ben took his time with her descriptions of Michelangelo's _David_ , Mona Lisa's lips, and even managed to sensualize her description of van Gogh's _Starry Night_. When he was done, he smiled up at the stunned classroom.

"Anyone care to tell me what they thought of Rey's essay?" he asked.

"That was damn sexy," one girl said. She gave Rey a thumbs up.

Ben nodded. "Anyone else?"

Patty raised her hand, and Ben waved her on. "It was more lyrical. Matt's essay was more academic. Parts of Rey's essay rhymed or had a meter to them."

"Excellent!" Ben said. "The first time I read this essay I thought it read like poetry. As a Latin language it can have that lyrical quality to it, but I want to draw your attention to word choice as well. There are more obvious descriptors she could have used for shapes and colors, but she chose more imaginative words, which heightens the dream-like quality of the essay. It also pulls you into a creative mindset, which circles back to the subject matter: art." He nodded in her direction. "Well done."

The end of the session came too soon, and Rey was on cloud nine. She wished they could have talked about it for another hour, but everyone had better things to do than sit in class on a Friday afternoon. Even her.

Ben passed their graded papers back and sent them on their way. He raised an eyebrow at Rey as she approached the front of the room, that knowing smile on his lips. _"Puis je t'aider?"_

"You still have my paper," she chuckled.

Ben looked back toward the desk to discover that he did, in fact, still have it. "So I do." He held it out. When she reached for it, he pulled it back, narrowing amused eyes at her. "Why are you in this class? You don't need it."

"Apparently I do. State language requirement."

"Weren't you educated in Europe? I don't mean to assume. Your accent—"

"I was." She nodded. "London."

He handed her the paper. "I hope you didn't mind the reading. I had a guess you wouldn't."

"Not at all." Rey smiled brightly at him. "It was fun."

"Good. I'm glad." He snapped his fingers, seemingly remembering something. "I've been meaning to ask you. Kenobi. Are you related to—"

"Sir Ben Kenobi. He's my grandfather." She hesitated. "Though I'd appreciate it if you don't share that information with anyone."

"Understandable. I was going to skip the part where my parents knew him and I was named after him, but if you won't tell, then I won't."

Rey brightened. "You were named after my grandfather? How'd you know him?"

"I never met him." Ben slid himself onto the desk. "He and my grandfather served together in the war. My mom and uncle knew him. I was sorry to hear of his passing."

Rey shrugged. Burying him had been the hardest thing she'd ever done. It was also what had given her the courage to leave England for uni. He would have wanted her to see the world.

"Did he ever tell you stories?" Ben asked. "My grandfather used to tell me the craziest war stories; a few of them involved yours. Usually chewing mine out for doing something brash."

"Solo," she mumbled. The lightbulb went off in Rey's head. "Oh my god. Your grandfather was Anakin Skywalker?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Ben chuckled.

"I've heard all sorts of stories about your grandfather." A thought occurred to her then.  She pointed a thumb at the door. "Perhaps we could swap stories. I was just going for a coffee."

Ben dipped his head with a chuckle. "I appreciate the offer, but no. I shouldn't."

"I didn't mean—" Rey waved her hands. "Of course. I understand."

"I'm sure you meant it innocently enough. Still…"

She hadn't meant it _entirely_ innocently, but it was murky water. More for him than her. Rey nodded. "Have a good weekend then."

"You too."

* * *

Tuesdays and Thursdays were Rey's favorite days this term for two reasons. First, they were art-only days. She had two back-to-back morning painting classes. Hands on. Less talking for hours about theory and more getting paint in every crevice, which was what she loved. Second, her classes were in the Studio Arts building which shared a parking lot with 1535 Levante where the President's office and several administrative services resided. This gave her a chance to ogle the most breathtaking vehicle in the carpark.

She pulled her paint-splattered jumpsuit off her shoulders, tying the arms around her waist and adjusting her tank top. It was sticking to her skin in the heat. She scanned the lot and found her prize. An imported, late sixties, Fiat DINO Spider. Perfectly maintained with a striking red interior and glossy black finish that gleamed in the Florida sunlight. It was her childhood. A thing of true beauty. She'd caught her first glimpse of it in the fall. Seen it in random snatches here and there. A phantom. Her first day of class it was parked there in the lot, bold as brass, daring her to touch it.

It wasn't always there. She hadn't quite worked out a pattern. Sometimes it was a Tuesday, others a Thursday. Sometimes it was gone by the time she got out of class. Others it was still there as she pedaled away. Every chance she got, she'd run her fingers along the gentle slope over the wheel well and up the metal brackets of the windscreen. She imagined it probably belonged to one of the directors or trustees. The sight of it always made her morning.

That morning it had been pissing rain from the moment she woke up to sometime midway through her second class. On rainy days, Kay - who preferred to skateboard over fighting for parking - would drop her off in the morning. Since it wasn't raining anymore, she'd have to make the trek up to the main campus to catch her ride back. Rey was out by noon, but Kay would be in class until at least two. This gave Rey plenty of time to appreciate the Spider.

It was still wet, speckles of rainwater clinging to its curves like jewels. On a whim, she pulled out her sketch pad and started scribbling. She could probably find pictures online, but it wasn't the same. Inspiration was a living, breathing thing, and when it called, the artist in her was helpless but to answer. Her fingers worked feverishly as she circled the vehicle, trying to capture every sensuous curve. Some days she wasn't sure if she wanted to drive it or make sweet, sweet love to it.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't notice the man come up behind her.

"Are you stalking me?"

Rey jumped, reacting before thinking and smacking the man standing next to her.

Ben chuckled and stepped out of arm's reach. "I'm pretty sure it's against the code of conduct to physically assault your instructors."

"You scared the crap out of me," she replied, clutching her chest.

He eyed the sketch pad in her hand. "Do you need another couple of minutes with her? I'm not in a hurry."

She blinked at him, then the car, then back at him. "Oh my god, this your car."

"It is."

For a moment, Rey was torn between her intense desire to finish the sketch and her mild embarrassment at being caught doing it.

Ben made the decision for her, waving her on. _"Continuez s'il vous plaît."_

"How long have you had her?" Rey asked.

"Ten years. It was an eighteenth birthday present from my grandfather."

She stopped dead in her tracks, staring across the vehicle at him. "He bought you a classic Spider for your eighteenth birthday?"

"Not exactly. My grandfather was fond of Fiats. He was good friends with another avid Fiat enthusiast."

It took her a moment to catch onto his meaning. She'd forgotten that he knew. It was a fact she didn't tell many people. "My grandfather."

"They bought theirs on the same day. When Grandad came back to the US, he refused to leave it behind. We used to tinker with it when I was kid. I helped put these seats in when I was sixteen. And…" He sidled up to the hood with all the excitement of a teenager talking about his first car. "Did a lot of work under the hood. Wanna see?" His fingertips grazed the edge of the hood where the release mechanism was.

She clutched her sketchbook to her chest. "Do it!" She slid up next to him as he popped the hood. It was one of the sexiest sounds she'd ever heard. When it finally came up, her eyes grew wide.

"This is—"

"An original Ferrari Dino V6 engine," Rey breathed. "Two or two-four?"

Ben beamed. "Originally, she came with a two liter engine, but Grandad had a blowout when I was… thirteen or fourteen. Needed a new engine so he got a two point four liter. Installed it myself."

"Really?" She looked him up and down and clicked her tongue. "I helped my grandfather replace the suspension on his when I was eleven."

He seemed… surprised wasn't the right word for it. It wasn't shock either. Curiosity maybe. He was searching her face, eyes skating to hers, her forehead, her nose, her lips. It made her stomach flutter. What was he thinking? What was he seeing? He inclined his head toward the vehicle.

"I've got a quick trip to make before coming back to campus. Wanna go for a ride?"

"Are you sure that would be appropriate?" She just couldn't resist taking the piss, but the way his smile faltered made her think she shouldn't have said it.

His eyes narrowed. "I won't tell if you won't."

"Deal, but I have a request." He cocked an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. "Take the top down."

"Now who's being inappropriate?"

It didn't stop him from popping open the snaps on one side and motioning that she should do the same. She practically ran around to the passenger door, caressing the canvas top lovingly before popping open the snaps. With the top down, she poured herself into the rich leather seats and let out a contented sigh as the motor hummed to life. "God, I love this car."

Ben behaved as he pulled out onto the street and toward the turn onto US-1. The second they were heading north on the highway, he let loose. He weaved through traffic with surgical precision and revved the engine in a way that made her melt. It was only slightly embarrassing that she could watch his hand work the stick for hours. The lightest touch and they were flying through the gears. He knew how to handle his machine. It made her wonder what else he knew how to handle.

Rey managed to pay some attention to the feel of the wind in her hair and the engine as it vibrated through her body, but every time Ben reached for the gear shift her attention wandered to him. The way the muscles in his arm flexed as he switched gears, the tiny crease in his brow as he scanned the road, the way his shoulder-length hair danced around his face in the breeze. Once or twice she caught him glancing at her when they stopped at a light. She could almost feel his eyes tracing her skin.

They turned off US-1 into Coconut Grove. Rey thought they might be heading to CocoWalk, but they drove through and past it toward the houses in the northeast part of the Grove. She'd never driven though this part of town before. It was as beautiful as Coral Gables, though its charm lay in the mismatch of themes. The streets were lined with an odd mix of old-fashioned and ultramodern houses. Some tiny like the closet of a house she and the girls were renting, others huge and towering. Some built up from the road, others recessed below the street line. Some prominently displayed, others obscure behind thick copses of tropical trees like hidden temples. From one house to the next it could be anything.

A peacock meandered into the road ahead of them, stopping traffic for several minutes as it shook its bottom and spread its feathers like a preening traffic officer. Rey threw off her seatbelt and leaned against the top of the windscreen, phone out to take a video of the animal as it strutted in circles in the middle of the street, not giving a damn that it was interrupting anyone's day.

"Buckle up. I think he's done parading," Ben said after a few minutes. Sure enough, the peacock trotted off the side of the road, and traffic moved apace.

"That was mental!" Rey said, laughing and breathless.

"Happens all time in this neighborhood. They're everywhere. Make a hell of a racket though. Peacocks sound like dying babies. Scared the crap out of me the first time I heard one." The vehicle slowed, turning off Tigertail, before they pulled into the second driveway on the right. The house was older. Small, bright yellow with vines creeping up one side and the trees so close together it practically hid the house from view.

Ben left the engine running and stepped out of the vehicle. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Rey nodded and watched as he knocked twice then let himself in. The door must have been unlocked because she hadn't seen him reach for keys. She let her mind wander as she stared up into the canopy over the driveway. Palm fronds and Banyan branches mingled, breaking the afternoon sunlight into irregular rays of copper and gold. She took a picture of the canopy. She might paint it later or just use the color scheme for something.

True to his word, Ben returned less than five minutes later as empty-handed as he'd walked in. She reached across the driver seat and opened the door for him, eliciting an amused pause before he settled in. She scanned him quickly for some hint of his activity. Finding nothing, she frowned. He must have read the curiosity on her face because he shook his head.

"No questions," he said with a chuckle, backing out onto the road.

"I'm not going to end up on the wrong side of a mob hit, am I?"

His hand stopped over the gearshift, the car still at an angle in the road. He frowned and turned to her. "There's only a slim chance of that," he said gravely.

For a second, Rey's heart clenched in her chest until that stupid smile appeared and he threw the car into gear. "Arsehole!" she spat, crossing her arms over her chest and pulling her body as far away as the tiny car would let her.

Her moment of anger melted away as they retraced their path through Coconut Grove. Rey caught a glimpse of the peacock from before causing havoc on a side street. They raced down US-1, Rey's hair flying in the humid afternoon. The journey back felt even shorter than the first. Before she was ready, they were pulling up to the Centrex building, the car slowing to a stop.

"Thanks for the ride," she said, sliding her fingers one last time across the edge of the windscreen.

He opened his mouth to reply, paused, and said, "You're welcome."

"What was that?" She frowned.

"What was what?"

"You changed your mind. What were you going to say?"

He sighed, dipping his head. "I was going to say 'any time,' but I can't."

"Why not?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Is there some rule in the code of conduct against students being friendly with their TAs?"

"It does have a tendency to elicit suspicion. Especially male TAs and pretty young undergrads."

She batted her eyelashes. "You think I'm pretty?"

"I already regret saying it."

"Seriously, though, what—"

"Rey." He waited for her to stop and smiled. "Get out."

"Fine," she huffed. She made sure to lean against the door, giving him a good view of her cleavage. "See you tomorrow."

He shook his head, but she didn't hear the purr of the engine again until she was off the street and well down the walkway.


	2. Chapter 2

Midterms came and went in a rush. Rey had chosen to stay in the city with her roommates for spring break. Rose promised to take her all over the city to see the places she'd still never been. They went to Vizcaya, The Museum of Science, even drove down to the Keys for a day, and overall just relaxed. It was quite possibly Rey's favorite spring holiday so far. Not that she remembered much about the first two.

The Saturday before returning to class, Rose had a surprise lined up. They'd been talking about doing one of those paint-while-you-drink classes for a while. Rose was in computer engineering, but she had a great love of art and a decent hand at it. As they pulled up to the studio, Rey was pretty sure that's what they were doing, only when they got inside there was no alcohol.

She figured out very quickly what they were doing when the first model came out in a robe. It was Kay. She waved at them.

"You want to paint our roommate in the nude?" Rey asked.

"No." Rose shrugged. "I just wanted to come and say hi. Our class is in the next room."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rey chuckled. "I'm perfectly used to it. You turn into a tomato whenever someone gets naked on Game of Thrones."

"I'm facing my fears." It didn't help Rose's case that her voice wavered slightly.

"Alright. Well, let's go face them where I don't have to know for certain if Kay shaves her fanny, hm?"

Rose giggled and let Rey lead her out of the room. They were early for their class, and they sat in the room with a couple other women who were tittering about the model.

Rey rounded on her friend. "You chose a male model?"

"Yeah," Rose said with more enthusiasm than was necessary. "Facing my fears!"

"I think I'll just paint you turning purple. It'll be more interesting than yet another naked man."

Rose sighed wistfully. "You say that like you've seen so many."

"I have, luv. When you've seen one flaccid cock, you've seen 'em all." Rey shrugged. "Besides, genitals aren't exactly attractive organs. Male or female."

"I know, I just… I wanted to do something bold."

The instructor appeared at the head of the class, adjusting the stool the model would be sitting on before she spoke. "Alright, ladies and gentle _man_." She nodded at the lone male in the room. "We're going to get underway in a minute. Please make sure you have everything you need. Remember that there is no cell phone use during this session and absolutely no photography. Thank you."

Rey and Rose took their places at their easels, and Rey did a cursory check of her supplies. They weren't painting. It was only an hour long session. She made sure her paper was clean and her charcoals were all set. Everything was in order until the side door opened and everything went completely out of order. Her heart leapt into her throat. She ducked behind her easel immediately. Rose gave her a puzzled look, but her attention was called away a moment later by what Rey imagined was Ben dropping his robe at the front of the room.

Rose's eyes were wide, jaw slack, a deep crimson spreading up her neck and radiating outward from her cheeks.

Rey swatted her arm. "Stop that. It's rude," she hissed.

"Why are you hiding?" Rose asked at a normal speaking volume.

"Shhhhhh." Rey pulled her in behind the giant pad. "Keep your voice down."

"Why?" Rose whispered.

"That's my French TA."

Rose's eyes grew wide again. She'd heard all her embarrassing stories. She ducked past the canvas for a second look.

Rey pulled her back immediately. "Are you mad?"

"He's fucking gorgeous," Rose breathed.

"I have to get out of here. If he sees me, I won't ever live it down."

"The hell you do," Rose replied, standing up straight. "This class was expensive. Grab your charcoals and start sketching, woman."

With that, Rose returned to her easel and proceeded to flush as she gave Ben her undivided attention. Rey took a deep breath and considered her options. There was no way he wouldn't notice if she made a run for the door. Getting away would depend on how he was positioned. If his head was turned toward the door, he wouldn't see her at her station, but it would make escape impossible. If it was turned toward the window, he might see her, might not. If he was looking dead ahead, he'd pretty much be looking straight at her. This was a comedy of errors. Rey had no choice but to peek out from behind her sketch pad to get a better sense of what she was working with.

All thoughts of his face fled when she saw what _he_ was working with. Mercifully, he wasn't fully nude. A flesh-toned G-string covered his manhood, but she could clearly see the dark trail leading down the taut plains of his abdomen. He adjusted in his seat, causing the fabric to gape a fraction before it settled back against his skin. It did nothing to hide the well-defined indentation at the hip, leading her vision back down to the bulge between his muscular thighs. She retreated behind her sketch pad, trying to remember where his face was. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to call the image to mind.

She chastised herself for her lack of artistic integrity and tried again. The second time she was only mildly distracted by the expanse of pectoral muscle before she found his familiar face. He was facing the window. He might see her. He might not. If she were careful and didn't call attention to herself, she might be able to slip out without him noticing. The question was, would Rose let her? The answer came seconds later.

"If you don't start drawing," Rose said in a voice just loud enough for Rey to hear, "I'm going to say your name really, really loudly."

Rey growled, closing her eyes again to try and re-center. She could do this. She'd done it a million times before. He was just a model. That's what she had to tell herself. Just another model. Just another body for her to dissect into lines, curves, shapes. She imagined the shape his wide lips made when he smiled.

_Fuck,_ she thought.

She took another deep breath and stood, keeping the canvas between her and his glorious display of Davidian musculature as often as she could manage. It worked. She was able to get through a basic sketch and start filling in the details when it happened. Models are human. They can't sit perfectly still forever. Eventually, they make small adjustments. The best models knew how to minimize their movements or return to their original positions.

Ben adjusted his neck at the exact moment Rey peeked out to get a look at him. She ducked away, praying he hadn't seen her. She waited several agonizing seconds before finding the courage to look again. When she did, his lips were pursed, nostrils flaring. He coughed, looking away from the painters for a moment before returning to his original position. His eyes darted sideways and that damn smile curled above his chin. He sniffed once, and the smile disappeared. He was back to neutral.

Rey caught Rose's eye. She'd seen it too. They knew that he knew that they were there.

'Oh shit,' Rose mouthed.

Rey gave her the finger and went back to her sketching. The minutes crawled by slower than if she'd been sitting in class. At the end of an hour, the ordeal was over. Ben stood, fastening his robe loosely around him as the class clapped and the instructor thanked him for his time. He bowed, smiled, and shot one glance directly at Rey, holding her eye for several seconds before disappearing with a shake of his head.

The moment he was gone, Rose squealed, shaking her arm. "That was intense."

" _You_ thought it was intense? I have class with him in two days!"

"You really captured his…" Rose scanned the sketch in awe. "Physicality."

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

Rey had been wrong about when she'd see her French instructor next. It wasn't in class at three oh three in the afternoon. It was midway through her Chem lab that morning. She was sitting in class, minding her own damn business, when who should walk in but the nude model himself. Ben barely paid the students any attention as he hurried toward the head of the lab and dipped to whisper with the TA who ran it.

He looked frustrated. She looked amused. When she put a hand on that glorious arm of his, he smiled at her, raising an eyebrow. She tilted her head slightly and tucked her tongue between her teeth. He sighed and shook his head, standing up to stretch his back. The lab TA stood as well, pulling something from her purse and handing it to him. When she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek, Rey experienced an emotion she rarely felt: envy. Borderline jealousy.

He shook his head again, still smiling at her. He scratched his forehead and turned to leave. On his way out, he scanned the students and his eyes fell on Rey. It was a knee-jerk reaction to turn away, only she inadvertently knocked a vial over and it shattered when it hit the ground, splashing its contents.

"Fuck," Rey whispered.

"We have a spill!" her lab partner shouted. "Hydrochloric acid."

She heard a loud snort from the door that quickly turned into coughing. Rey managed to catch the look of utter delight on Ben's face as he ducked out of the classroom.

The rest of the afternoon went by just as dismally. Her school bag was destroyed in the spill. She sacrificed her lunch break buying another before rushing to French class and arriving two minutes after Ben did. She took a seat quietly in the back of the room and remained silent as a grave the whole class period. She kept seeing flashes of his naked chest and could picture the way his toes had curled where they gripped the stool. The second half of term was going to be impossible. Im-fucking-possible.

When class was over, she had hoped to sneak away without incident, but luck was not on her side.

"Kenobi. A word, please." The classroom began to empty, and Ben stuffed paperwork into his bag in a rush. "Would you mind taking a walk with me? I have a meeting to get to."

"Sure." It never occurred to her that she could say no. In fact, she wasn't entirely sure the word would have come out of her mouth even if she'd wanted it to. She was smitten with him in the worst kind of way.

He moved closer to her and dropped his voice. "And the walls have ears," he added, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. She'd never heard his voice get that low. It made her wonder if she could bottle it.

They left the classroom in silence. Ben held the door open for her both in the hall and out of the building. The afternoon was swampy. If she wasn't uncomfortable already, the humidity making his oxford stick to his skin didn't help. When they were good and lost in the shuffle of collegiate life, he finally spoke.

"How's your lab partner?" he asked.

"With all due respect, fuck you," she replied.

"Alright. I earned that," he chuckled. "Look, about the other day—"

"I won't tell anyone, I swear. It's embarrassing enough without having to say it out loud."

He stopped mid-stride. "The department doesn't care about that. You won't get me in trouble. Most people know I do it. Not usually my students, but shit happens. Rey, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. It was a weird coincidence, but you're an art student, and I moonlight as a live model."

"Oh." Rey played with the fraying edge of her shorts. "I thought… Honestly, I don't know what I thought. I was just surprised is all."

" _You_ were surprised?" He chuckled, resuming their walk. "I nearly fell off the stool."

"Really?"

"It's not every day one of my students sees me nearly naked. In fact, I'm kind of hoping it never happens again." They stopped in front of one of the admin buildings Rey had never been in. She was pretty sure it was used by grad students and faculty. "I saw how uncomfortable you were today, and I wanted you to know it was okay."

It was certainly a relief. Somehow, talking about it like this made it less awkward. Especially with the kind look in his eye. The smile he wore was different than any she'd seen before, contemplative. He searched her face and sighed, backing slowly toward the building.

"I've gotta go. Have a good weekend. Try not to kill any more of your lab partners."

She gave him the finger. To her great surprise, he gave her the English version, thrusting two fingers in the air in the reverse of a peace sign. Rey burst out laughing.

* * *

Another Friday of _'what the hell do we do for the next half hour'_ came upon them, and at three minutes past the hour, she was sitting in French waiting with her classmates for an instructor who was conspicuously absent. At five minutes past the hour, no one budged. It wasn't like Ben to miss class without a warning. He'd only done it once, and even then had sent e-mail about it hours beforehand. Patty had even responded that she'd go anyway and alert anyone who missed the memo.

At three oh seven, Ben finally stormed into the classroom, his sour mood apparent in his heavy footfalls and the rough way he tossed his bag on the table. "Apologies. I'm in the middle of some—" His phone rang in his hand. "For fuck's sake." He pulled it to his ear. "I have a class to teach. I will call you after four." He hung up, dropping the phone to the desk with a rattle. "Family drama. Sorry. It shouldn't happen again."

Ben had planned a quick reading from a book commonly read by French high school students as a method of reinforcing the topics they'd discussed since their return from break. They'd just begun to discuss the passages when his phone rang again. He switched the ringer off and shoved it in his pocket, but the mounting irritation in his face let Rey know that whoever was calling hadn't stopped.

"I'm really sorry, guys. Keep talking. I'll be back in just a couple of minutes."

He stormed out of the classroom, phone already raised to his ear as he burst through the door. It slammed against the wall as he exited. They tried to continue their conversation, but it was hard to over the shouting in the hall. They only caught small snippets of it before it ended abruptly and Ben returned red-faced and fuming. He glanced up at the clock. It read twenty-two minutes past the hour, which meant they'd really only been at their work for about fifteen of them.

"Again, I apologize," he said.

"If we need to call it early, we can," Matt called from his customary seat in the back.

"I don't think any of us would mind," Patty agreed.

There was a general round of assent from the class and Ben sighed, scanning the faces in the room gratefully. "Thanks, guys. That's why you're my favorite class. Don't tell the others." He waved them off. "Happy Friday, everyone."

Rey exited with the rest of the class but hovered just beyond the building's exit as her classmates dispersed. She was… well, she was worried. Her brain told her it was a bad idea to be this worried about her TA. It was straying too close to a line she'd already been toeing the edge of, but she couldn't help it. As she waited, she wondered what she would say. If there was anything she could say or do to help. She hadn't managed to work it out when Ben stalked out of the building, phone already at his ear and turned toward the car park.

"Yeah, Dad. I get it. But if you would just—" He growled and fell into silence.

Rey kept a respectful distance as she followed, not wanting to overhear too much of his conversation but not wanting to lose him either. She still didn't have the first idea what she'd say, but with each step, she was more certain she should do something.

"I don't need another lecture. How many damn times do we have to talk about this shit before you get it through your head?"

The car park was packed to brimming, and Rey wove through the cars, taking a different route than her quarry. The Spider came into view, and she settled under a tree a few spaces away. Ben stopped next to his car. He was practically vibrating with rage.

"I have to go." He paused. "No." Another pause. "I have to drive. Stick shift, remember?" A final pause. "No, I'm not going to install a bluetooth-compatible stereo in my classic fucking Fiat… you know what? I'm done. Bye, Dad." He hung up and turned toward the driver side door. When he saw Rey, his head sank to the canvas top. "What do you want, Rey?"

She shoved off the tree and down the center aisle between car hoods. "You seem tense."

He huffed. "Noticed that, did you?"

She leaned against the hood of the Spider, just next to where he stood by the door. "Anything I can do?"

"Not unless you know a hitman who'd be willing to take out my father," he chuckled.

"Nope. Don't have any of those lying around. Hitmen or fathers."

Ben turned to her, frowning. "Oh, dammit. I forgot. I'm sorry."

"No, no, no. It's alright." She waved her arms frantically. "It's fine. I was so young when they passed I barely remember them."

"Well, I still feel like a jackass." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

This was not going well for her. She'd meant to try and make him feel better, not worse. She scanned the space between them for an idea, and one finally materialized. She reached into her new messenger bag and pulled out a folio of sketches she kept for school. Flipping through it, she found the piece she was looking for and slid it free.

"I finished it," she said, handing him the page.

Ben's sour mood seemed to melt away as he took in the completed sketch of the Fiat. She'd chosen to paint the image in watercolor, adding a background of palm fronds with dappled light peeking through and a border of peacock feathers around the outside. It was the perfect encapsulation of a happy afternoon drive. She loved that painting. Had gotten a good grade on it too.

"This is…" His breath came out in a rush. "This is incredible."

"Keep it," she said. It hadn't been her intention to give it to him, but it felt like the right thing to do.

"I can't accept this," he replied.

"Why? Because it's against the code of conduct?"

"No. Because it's yours and it's beautiful and I couldn't possibly take it from you."

"I've scanned it. Besides, it seems like you need it more than I do."

He gave her that searching look again, like he was trying to find something just out of sight. His free hand raised slightly from the canvas top and stopped. He blinked and turned toward the door.

"Thank you. I…" He smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Try to have a good weekend?"

"I will now." He gave her one last, lingering glance and opened the door.

Rey stepped back, letting her eyes fall closed at the sound of the pistons springing to life. When she opened them again, he was chuckling in the driver seat. He pulled out of the space slowly and was gone seconds later.

A warmth spread through her as she wandered back across campus to her bike. A good deed was done. She imagined him getting home, finding a frame, putting the painting up somewhere in his house and on random occasions looking at it. It made her impossibly happy to know that every time he saw it he would think of her.

* * *

The second half of term, Rey's life exploded. There were a mountain of assignments to finish, a part-time job off campus, and no time for luxuries like sleep. She was honestly beginning to wonder how she managed to think. Skipping meals wasn't really something she did, but it was beginning to happen more frequently, which was a disturbing trend.

It had been another rained-out Thursday morning. That left her loitering near the education building waiting for Kay to get out of class while simultaneously trying to stay out of the Panhellenic crowd's way. The best option she had for a snack was out of a vending machine. There wouldn't be enough time to go in search of real food and be back to catch Kay. The last thing she wanted was to be left behind again. She stared at the machines, weighing her caloric options. None of them looked particularly appealing. A soda was probably the best bang for her buck. The calories were as empty as all the other choices, but at least the sugar and caffeine would be give her the pick-me-up she needed to stave off the headache threatening to destroy her afternoon.

Rey fumbled through her wallet for change. The doors of the nearby auditorium opened to a sea of students in egress. She didn't bother to look. Thirty more minutes and Kay's class would let out. She found a few quarters and stuffed them into the machine. The first one didn't sound quite right going in. When she dropped the second, she knew something was wrong. She hit the button to return her change. Nothing happened.

"Oh, come on," she said to no one in particular. She pounded the button again. Still nothing. She eyed the card reader wearily. It would be an upcharge to use. A glance at the snack machine next to it made that cinnamon bun look more and more appealing by the second. Unfortunately, she needed the caffeine badly. No amount of sticky, doughy goodness was going to save her from the increasingly fierce pounding between her eyes.

She reached for her credit card and shoved it into the reader irritably. It said bad things about the state of her love life that watching the card enter the slot was almost erotic. Almost. It took its precious time authorizing the transaction before finally relinquishing a delicious caffeinated cola into her covetous embrace.

She stuffed her card back into her wallet, took a few steps away from the machine, and popped the tab. The sound of carbon dioxide escaping the pressure seal was like music to her ears. It _was_ erotic. So much so she didn't even think about the words that flew out of her mouth.

"Oh, Daddy," she wheezed.

"You called?" a familiar voice intoned.

She spun quickly, almost sloshing her soda onto her overalls. "You've got to be kidding me." Ben Solo smiled at her like he knew a particularly interesting secret he had no intention of sharing. "Now who's stalking whom?"

"I had a class to cover," he said mildly, pointing at the still exiting students. "What's your excuse?"

"I'm waiting for my roommate." She cocked an eyebrow. "And I'm not the one who responded to the word 'daddy.'"

"Bad habit," he replied.

When it was clear no further explanation was forthcoming, she turned toward a nearby bench and plopped herself into it. He was still standing there by the vending machines, seemingly struggling with his options. "For pity's sake, sit down." She looked around them at the students wandering the campus. "It's not a crime to have a conversation." He pursed his lips but sat with her. "I've never seen you out this way before. Subbing?"

He nodded, tucking one leg under him so he was facing her on the bench. "One of the instructors was out today. I could teach the lesson plan." He shrugged.

"Isn't that an education class?" He nodded. "I thought you were in languages."

"Currently. My first Master's degree was in education."

"Your first?"

He shrugged again. "I like learning."

"Afraid to start your real life?"

He rolled his eyes. "And how would you define _real life_? A nine to five? Two and a half kids? Picket fence? No thanks."

"The senator's son doesn't want a picket fence? Sounds like a scandal. What _do_ you want?"

He rested his cheek in his hand and studied her face for a long while. She fought the rising urge to reach out to him. It seemed impossible that he might feel the same attraction she did, but when he looked at her like that it made her want to jump across the bench and find out.

"Curiosity. Intellect. Old cities. New ideas. Oceans I've never seen before. Foods I've never tasted before."

Her mouth went dry, blood rushing through her body at greater and greater speeds. She had always wanted those things, and god help her, she wanted him more for it. He held her gaze, curious and cautious in equal measure.

"Rey!"

Instantly, the spell was broken. His head turned lazily toward the sound of her name, the edge of his lip curling a fraction. "It all makes sense." He turned back to her. "That's why you came to the studio."

"Hey, Ben," Kay said, swatting his thigh. "Good to see you fully clothed."

"And you," he replied, poking her in the stomach. Rey wondered what the rules were in his head that he was allowed to poke Kay like that but not allowed to have a conversation with Rey. "I take it you want her back now."

Kay eyed her roommate thoughtfully. "I mean, you could borrow her for a while if you wanted. She eats a lot, but she's low maintenance and great for a snuggle."

"I'll, uh…" He chuckled. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." He stood. "I'll see you tomorrow, and you in a couple weeks."

"Bye, Ben." Kay waved.

"See you tomorrow," Rey added.

They made it to the parking lot just in time to see the Fiat pulling out of its spot. The engine revved, and her gut tightened. She said a prayer to whatever gods were listening for the strength to survive the remainder of the semester.

* * *

Sweat trickled down Rey's back the second she walked out into the blistering heat. The sun beat down on her, and the oppressive humidity made each breath feel like a lungful of water. She made her way across the Studio Arts car park, grinning as she passed the Spider on her way to her bike. Her grin evaporated at the sight of the flat tire. She kept spare parts in her saddle bag but didn't relish the thought of patching, or worse replacing, a tire in the heat.

After a quick inspection, she knew she was in for a full inner tube replacement. Her first step was to remove her t-shirt. She normally wore sports bras and t-shirts she didn't mind destroying on painting days. The overalls would cover her back; it was her neck she was most worried about, so she slung it over her head and got to work. Her sweaty palms made the swap difficult, and she was struggling to get the tire re-seated when the shadow appeared in her view. She didn't have to look up to know it was him.

"Afternoon," she said.

"Hell of a look you got going there." Ben stooped down in front of her. "Is that a new summer trend, or are you trying to start one?"

"It's always been an aspiration of mine to create a Parisian fashion line. I'm going to call this one _nuque brûlée_."

"Need a hand?"

She glanced up at him in his crisp white oxford and fancy trousers. "You'll get dirty."

"That has a tendency to happen when replacing a tire."

"I'm already covered in paint and sweat."

"I noticed." Something in his tone intimated more than just _noticing_.

"Sure. I could use a hand"

"Then you're in luck. I've got two."

She rolled her eyes at what had to be the worst dad joke she'd ever heard. He walked back to his car, and she took the opportunity to watch him leave. The smile came involuntarily at the realization that he was, in fact, removing his crisp white oxford. It slid down his shoulders, exposing snippets of his upper back beneath a tank top. She sighed and returned to her work.

For a man with large hands, he was very deft. Again, she found herself wondering what else those nimble fingers could do. Together they got the tire seated, inflated, and ready to reattach to the cycle, but the rack was making it difficult to realign. There were too many other bicycles, and she was struggling.

"Take it off the rack. I'll hold it while you pin the wheel on," Ben said.

She did, rolling it away on the front tire and handing it over to him. He then did the strangest thing she'd ever seen. He pulled it over his head and angled his arm through it so the front tire was up in the air and the rear wheel housing was pointing directly at her. She blinked, open-mouthed at the odd sight.

He laughed. "My dad used to do this. Makes it easy to hold, and my arms are free to help you with the wheel while you seat it."

She angled the wheel into the bracket, and, sure enough, he took hold of it, allowing her to screw it into place and properly adjust the chain, a task not easily done on her own. Rey did a final check that everything was in order.

Ben returned to his car, reappearing with a bottle of wipes. "I keep these around for emergency tire changes. I think this qualifies."

"You're a lifesaver!" She took one from the plastic tub, scrubbing her hands clean. She took another and wiped the sweat from the back of her neck. The alcohol in them evaporated on her skin, cooling her. She rubbed it across her neck and chest, halting when she saw the look on his face.

He looked away, clearing his throat and pulling another wipe from the tub. "You have some on your nose." He handed her the towelette, which she scrubbed across the bridge of her nose.

"Better?" she asked.

"You've still got some," he pointed at his own face, "there on the side."

She tried again but still hadn't gotten it.

"Here." He took the wipe from her, placing a hand under her chin and gently wiping the side of her nose. His thumb grazed the edge of her jaw as he worked. Rey was finding it increasingly difficult to breath.

"I appreciate your help," she said, her words coming out stronger than she thought they would.

"Just returning the favor," he said, almost absently. He trailed the cloth along her skin one last time, looked into her eyes, and nearly jumped back. "All set?" His question directed at the car on his right.

"I am. Thanks again."

"Sure." He nodded. "Happy to help."

"I'll be going then." She took the bike in shaking hands and wheeled it toward the road.

All she could think about on the ride home was the feel of his thumb against her cheek and the look of adoration in his eyes. She'd told herself a hundred times that her feelings were one-sided, a fool crush on her teaching assistant, but no man had ever looked at her the way he had. Like the sun rose at her whim and the stars turned by her leisure. She wanted to keep telling herself that she'd imagined it. That it was all in her head. Those words no longer rang true. He felt _something,_ and she was pretty sure it was more than wanting to nail a co-ed. Unfortunately, there was not a damn thing she could do about it, and it was a fool's errand to even consider trying.


	3. Chapter 3

Rey had heard of Poe Dameron's epic parties. There was one every month, and Kay attended them religiously. They were _Animal House_ -level parties within walking distance from their rental. Rose didn't care for them much, preferring a smaller getty to a massive rager. Rey was the same on that account, but with two weeks left until finals, she was stressed out and in desperate need of a release. When Kay invited her to the pre-finals bash, Rey jumped at it.

They arrived at the party in the early evening. It was one of the bigger houses, only a few blocks from the school. White and pristine and ultramodern. The lawn was already filled with loitering bodies, the madness well underway. Rey ignored all of it in favor of the beloved car in the driveway. It was Ben's Spider. She frowned at the tiny scratches on the hood, wondering what could have happened to mar the lovely lines of this gorgeous machine.

"Come on!" Kay called, tugging at the loose hem of Rey's romper and exposing more than a tiny bit of cheek. Rey swatted her hand away but let Kay lead her to the door, which she opened without a knock or ring.

All she could think about was Ben in the house somewhere, away from prying university eyes a mere two weeks before the end of term. The night was either going to go very, very well or very, very badly.

In the kitchen they encountered their host, whom Rey had met on a couple of occasions.

"I come bearing gifts!" Kay cried, hefting a very large bottle of middle-of-the-road tequila and a fridge pack of beers from Rey's arms.

He scooped Kay up into a hug and proceeded to make them both drinks. Kay went for the hard stuff right away. Rey had decided to take her time, stick to beer and not get blackout drunk until after finals were over. She needed to let off steam, not end up with alcohol poisoning. She caught sight of Ben in the next room and used the opportunity to be the one to sneak up on him for once.

"Are you allowed to attend parties?" His shoulders tensed in his black t-shirt. "Or is that against the code of conduct?"

The blonde woman standing next to him was as tall as he was. She snorted at the comment. "She's got your number, Solo." Rey was surprised at her accent.

When he finally turned toward her, he was all smiles. "I'm going to have to do something about security. They're just letting anyone in."

"Rude."

"My house. I can be rude if I want to."

The blonde woman touched his arm. "I'm going to stop Poe from getting in a motor vehicle."

"Please," he replied, touching her back. "I'll be right behind you."

Rey blinked at him. She thought about the morning at the start of term when she'd caught him on his run. She tried to remember the street he'd turned down. The house's exterior _had_ looked familiar, but all the houses in Coral Gables had started to run together. "I thought this was Poe's house."

"He lives here, but it's my home."

" _You_ own this house?" Rey took in their surroundings with renewed awe.

"No." Ben shook his head. "My parents bought it a few years ago when I was thinking about coming to UM. We came down here and they fell in love with the Gables."

Her jaw dropped. "So they bought a house? On a whim?"

"That's my mother." He shrugged.

"Ben!" They both turned toward the voice calling his name. It was Poe. "Hurry up! We're gonna run dry and you have a second stop to make!"

"Chill the fuck out. I'm going." Ben sighed. "If you'll excuse me, I have a beer run to make."

Rey stepped aside to let him pass.

Two hours went by without another glimpse of Ben, though she understood why. It was easy to get lost in the wide, two-story house. It was around the two hour mark that Poe fired up the grill in the backyard and proceeded to play chef for his many, many houseguests. By then Kay was thoroughly smashed. That was also when Ben reappeared, lugging trays of food into the spacious backyard before disappearing again to god knew where.

Another hour passed and Rey was full, mildly drunk, and happily watching half-dressed partygoers splash around in the pool. Kay had stripped to her skivvies and jumped in, ever the nudist. Rey, on the other hand, was happy to remain clothed, given that her only undergarment was a very tiny thong. The romper didn't quite allow for a bra, and she wasn't endowed enough to require one.

She leaned back in the pool lounger and stared up at the stars. The world spun in a slow orbit she could just see the edges of. The night air smelled of moisture, grass, burnt meat, and… skunk. She took another sniff. Yup. Definitely skunk. She scanned the mass of partygoers for the telltale signs of marijuana use. Clouds. Huddled masses. Dorito eating. Giggling. She saw none of these things.

Poe appeared on the deck a few moments later, strutting bowlegged like a Cowboy in a swimsuit. He sauntered to the edge of the pool and shouted obscenities at his guests. They shouted back in kind. Rey laughed at the spectacle, realizing a moment too late what Poe intended to do. All at once he was flying through the air and splashing down into the pool. Rey scrambled to get out of range, but not soon enough. Her back was soaked through. She flopped onto the plastic furniture, defeated.

Kay swam to the edge of the pool to greet her. "Looks like you got drenched."

"Unfortunately," Rey replied.

"Well, then, drop trou and join us."

"I'll pass. Thanks."

Poe swam up next to Kay. "Don't be like that. Come on in. The water's freezing."

He shook his curls at her, sending droplets flying in every direction. That's when she noticed his eyes. Bloodshot. Pupils blown. She leaned closer.

"It was you! I knew I smelled it."

"Just taking a hit of the peace pipe." Poe grinned like an idiot, eyes squeezing shut. "Would you care to partake?"

Rey considered it. She usually didn't smoke when she drank. Each made her sleepy on its own. Together it was a recipe for passing right the hell out, but a couple of good hits would do more for her relaxation than any amount of beer. She needed to sober up a bit first. "Maybe later."

"Well, whenever you want, head upstairs. Ben's got the good shit." He kicked off the wall and torpedoed straight into another partygoer. They went under to Kay's raucous laughter.

Rey didn't hesitate a second time. Now she knew where he'd disappeared to. She made a pit stop in the kitchen to switch her beer for water and went flying up the stairs as fast as her inebriated legs would let her. The food and water would help her sober up faster. Besides, it wasn't every day she got to hotbox her sexy TA. She found him holding court in a game room on the far end of the second floor, a thin room running the length of the house from front to rear.

There were fewer than a dozen people in the room. A group playing what looked like Mario Cart at the TV set up in the front, a couple of billiards players at the pool table in the middle, and five bodies strewn across a collection of well-worn couches at the back. Ben was lounging on a loveseat, long body splayed out across the length of the couch. He caught her approach and smiled lazily at her, eyelids heavy.

"You've been holding out on me," she said.

"You're here now. Have a seat."

She made the executive decision to play this one boldly. The alcohol was likely greasing the wheels on her inhibitions and a tiny voice in her head said she might regret this come Monday, but the better part of her just didn't give a flying fuck. She strode over to him.

"This one's taken," he said, that wicked grin plastered to his face.

"I'm small. I'll fit," she replied, climbing over him and sliding herself down onto the sofa so his legs were resting in her lap. The slide made her romper ride up, and he didn't even pretend to look away. He adjusted slightly to give her room.

"So, what were we talking about?" she asked once settled.

A man to her immediate left passed her a joint and smiled. "Ben's inability to choose a career."

"Oh?" Rey took the proffered intoxicant and passed it to Ben who passed it to the next person in line.

"None for you?" he asked.

"In a bit; I've been drinking."

He nodded. "Understood. You get sleepy?"

"I pass out right away when I mix them."

"Me too," he chuckled. "Two tokes and I'm out, but this I could do all night if I pace myself."

"Is that what you're doing right now? Pacing yourself?"

He nodded, then frowned. "Is that water?"

"I've already drunk out of it." She offered him the bottle.

"So?" he snorted.

She waited until the liquid was flowing into his mouth to reply. "So you don't mind exchanging fluids."

He coughed, pulling the bottle from his lips too quickly. It splashed down his chin and onto his shirt, forcing him to sit up. His friends laughed around them. He gave her a stern but amused look that was way more sober than it should have been, took another quick swig, and handed the bottle back to her.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

Bottle raised to her lips, she whispered, "Maybe a little," and kept her eyes locked on his as she took a sip.

 _"Mon Dieu,"_ one of his friends said; she was definitely French. "Do you two need a minute?"

"No!" Ben said firmly, turning to his friend. "She's one of my students. The smart one."

"This is the smart one?" another said, a redhead with an Irish accent.

Rey turned to Ben. "Have you been talking about me?"

"Maybe." He pointed to the woman on his right. "Rey, this is Bazine, Armitage," he pointed to the sofa on Rey's left and the tall blonde from before, "Phasma and… shit, dude, I forgot your name."

"Ello," he said, reaching a hand out to Rey. She shook it.

"Right. Beastie Boys jokes." Ben nodded. "Everyone, this is Rey."

Rey learned that Ello was a friend of Poe's who'd come up as she had to _partake_. The other three were Ben's friends from his time overseas. They were at the end of their weeklong vacation and would be returning to England soon. The conversation turned to talk of London, of pubs they liked, neighborhoods they grew up in, and their many trips throughout Europe.

Shortly before midnight, Ello stood suddenly and declared he had some serious munchies, a problem that needed to be remedied as quickly as possible. The others echoed this sentiment and disappeared, leaving Ben and Rey with half a joint still burning. He'd been a gentleman and waited for her to be ready before sparking one up. She was already feeling calmer. All the stresses and tensions that were only slightly muted when drunk were genuinely drifting away with each cloud of smoke.

"You wanna save it or kill it?" Ben asked, offering it to her.

"I'd feel bad smoking the last of it without them."

"Don't. We've all had plenty, and it's not the last of it."

"Share it with me?"

He nodded, taking another hit and passing it to her. She lay back, stretching herself across the sofa as he had when she first arrived. This time, her legs rested in his lap.

"So, what happened to your car?"

"Peacock attack."

Rey coughed. "What?"

He chuckled. "I was in Grove; remember the trip we took?"

She nodded. Wasn't likely to forget it anytime soon.

"I went out there this morning. When I was leaving there was a peacock standing on the hood of my car. I tried to shoo him off. Guess he got agitated; scratched the shit out of my hood."

"You go there often, then?"

"Often enough," he said, eyes wandering to the glass ashtray on the table. "It's my cousin's place."

"Odd."

"What is?"

"You made a trip to your cousin's house, in the middle of the day, with a stranger in tow, for a three minute chat?"

Ben smiled but didn't say anything.

"You're really not going to tell me are you?"

He shook his head.

"Now I'm really worried about a mob hit. He your dealer or something?"

He coughed, and Rey's eyes went wide. She'd said it as a joke.

"Rey," he said, warningly.

"Oh, calm down. I won't tell anyone. I couldn't remember how to get there if you put a gun to my head."

He shook his head and took another hit.

"So, you never did say why you can't choose a career."

"I have chosen a career," Ben said, still slightly agitated. "I want to teach languages. So I've taken a few extra degrees on, so what?"

"Some of us find a single or secondary degree enough, thank you very much."

"I'm a nerd. So sue me. I like to learn. Besides, linguistics allows me to TA, which means I can do both at once."

"I suppose that's a good thing." She dug her toes into his thigh. "I met you."

His hand paused halfway to his lips. "I still haven't figured out if that's a good thing." She kicked his leg and he chuckled, coughing out the smoke. "What about you?" He grabbed her calf to stop her kicking him. His big hands nearly wrapping completely around her leg. "What are you going to do with an art degree?"

"Be a lazy, entitled artist. Obviously."

"Uhn uh." He shook his head. "I don't believe that for a second."

"Why the hell not? The hours are good, no arsehole bosses." She shrugged.

"Bullshit. You are easily the smartest of my students. You overachieve on every one of your assignments. Give thoughtful, articulate commentary during discussions. Fuck, you get up early to exercise. There's no way in hell you could convince me that your intention is to put all this work into getting a degree to sit on your ass and do nothing."

"Well, it is."

He poked her stomach. "You're lying."

She wasn't really. She wasn't going to do _nothing_ so much as she hadn't really put a plan together for what she could do.

He poked her stomach again. "Tell me."

"No," she said, but only because it meant he'd keep poking her.

On cue, he did it again. "Come on." His hand brushed against her side; it tickled, and she couldn't hide the reaction. A moment later, his fingertips were digging into her side, sending her into fits of laughter. She struggled against him, but he managed to hold her fast. She shot up, bending away from him and gasping for breath.

"Alright," she wheezed. "Alright."

He stopped.

"I don't exactly have a plan. More of a rough idea. I want to travel, paint what I see or whatever inspires me, then do gallery showings until the wanderlust catches up again. Grandfather wanted me to see the world, and he took me to so many places when he was alive. I want to go to all the ones we never got the chance to see." She sighed. "That way, he'll always be with me."

"There she is." Ben searched her face, and this time Rey didn't care what he was looking for. All that mattered was the way he was looking at her. She was acutely aware of the hand pressed to her hip and the other across her thighs. The heat radiating off him underneath her. The weight of his gaze like feather kisses on her skin.

She held the tiny end of the joint up to him. "Last bit."

"You take it."

She scooted away from him, pulling her knees under her so she could kneel next to him on the sofa. She placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself and pressed the roach to his lips. They were softer than she imagined as they wrapped around the bit of paper, caressing her fingertips. She let herself fall into the sensation of what those lips would feel like against the rest of her skin. He held the hit for a moment and as those luxurious lips parted to exhale, Rey leaned in to suck the smoke from his lungs. Her mouth hovered a hair's breadth from his. She tilted her head back to exhale into the space above them and felt his nose and cheek rub against her neck, drawing a happy sound from her throat. Fingers dug into her hip, and she was gently pushed back onto the sofa next to him.

"Are you trying to get me fired?"

"Maybe a little."

He tucked his head between his knees, genuinely growling. "It can't happen, Rey."

"I know," she said, startling herself with the realization. It couldn't happen. She scooted to the edge of the sofa and kept her hands, legs, and sundry body parts to herself. "I'm sorry."

He let out an angry snort. "I wish I could tell you not to be, but I can't."

"Then I'm definitely sorry."

"I know."

* * *

The last two weeks of term remained uneventful. She and Ben kept a polite distance, though Rey suspected they were both too buried under mountains of coursework to think too much about anything else. It was the last week before finals that provided Rey another stunning opportunity to embarrass herself. This time in front of the whole bloody class. By Wednesday, it had already been a long week. She was running on fumes when she dragged herself to French. It was only because they were spending the whole week in finals review that she bothered to go at all. Her arse was dragging badly. She'd overslept and skipped breakfast, napped during her lunch, and was still groggy when Ben appeared his customary three minutes late.

As he passed by her seat at the end of the row, the smell of fresh coffee filled her nostrils, making her stomach clench and tearing a god's honest moan from her throat. Every head in the classroom turned at once. The look of utter terror on Ben's face would have been priceless if it hadn't been so damn close to the noise she'd made that night at Poe's party. She stared around the room, tired, annoyed, and fully willing to take it out on them.

"What the hell are you all looking at? I haven't eaten all day, and that coffee smells orgasmic. Sue me."

Ben burst out laughing. Several of her classmates did too. Even she found the energy to smile. The paper coffee cup slid across the desk toward her.

"You obviously need it more than I do," Ben said and turned away before she could argue.

The smell hit her nostrils again, and she managed not to make any obscene noises as she brought the cup to her lips. It could have been black and she would have drank it happily. To her great pleasure, it was exactly how she liked it. Lots of cream and sugar. She fought back the urge to moan one last time as the warm liquid slid down her throat.

She was in love. This man had great taste in cars, coffee, literature, he was smart, sexy, and fuck it, there was only one more week of class left. After that, she was going to make a move if it killed her.

* * *

The following Monday, Rey was rested and ready for her final. The class clustered together outside the testing center waiting for their proctor, chatting amongst themselves or trying desperately to cram what few additional facts might fit before the test. When her Chem Lab TA showed up and announced that she would be proctoring instead, there was an audible groan from her classmates. It was a testament to how good an instructor he was that they were all sad he wouldn't be with them their final day together.

"What happened?" Patty asked, saving Rey having to do it.

"He said his test this morning was pushed back. Some issue with the computers." She pulled her phone out and checked it. "He only started about half an hour ago, or he'd definitely be here. He wanted me to tell you all how sorry he is and that he's going to miss you guys. I'm pretty sure you're his favorite class he's ever taught, and he's been doing this for years."

"He talks about us?" Matt asked, whistling.

"All the time," the TA replied. "Knowing him, you'll probably get an e-mail in a few days once everything is settled."

They settled into silence as they waited for this room to become available. Rey overheard Patty and the TA chatting. Apparently, Rey hadn't been the only one who'd seen Ben and her Chem TA getting chummy with one another. The TA laughed at the implication.

"He's my cousin," she said. "Well, are you familiar with Cuban cousins?"

Patty shook her head.

"We're not related, but our families are close. I grew up with Ben. Kind of convinced him to come here. I'll let him know you said hi."

* * *

With no other alternative, Rey was forced to co-opt Kay into giving her number to Poe so he could give it to Ben. On Wednesday when she got back from her morning bike ride, she had a text.

**| Lady Kenobi?**

She smiled at the unknown number, knowing it could only be one person.

**| Professor Solo?**

She jumped in the shower, and when she got back, there were more messages.

**| Not anymore.  
** **| I turned my grades in for your class.  
** **| I am no longer your teacher.**

Her heart was hammering in her chest as she typed out her reply, scanning the handful of words several times before hitting the send button.

**| Have you decided if it's a good thing or a bad thing yet?**

The ellipses icon appeared immediately, sending her already racing pulse at Ferrari speeds.

**| No.**

Her stomach clenched. What did he mean no? A smiley face with the tongue out followed, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Okay. Still joking. There was hope… she hoped. The ellipses appeared again. Rey glanced at the clock. She needed to get moving. Her Chemistry exam was coming up. The message could wait till she got to the testing center. She pedaled faster than she ever had and pulled her phone out as she walked from the bike rack to her building.

**| Poe is throwing another party this weekend.  
** **| To celebrate the death of another school year.  
** **| Not that he needs an excuse.**

She was so distracted by the implications, she walked right past her stop. By the time she reached the building, she'd typed out her response and managed not to walk into any free-standing objects.

**| Are you asking me out?**

Rey trotted into the building and found the first handful of her classmates waiting in the lobby. Her Chem test was digital, so they would be in one of the computer labs. She took a seat a good distance away from her peers and stared at her phone, willing him to respond. For a long time, nothing happened. When the ellipses finally appeared again, she thought she would pass out from the agony of waiting. It disappeared again a moment later. This happened several times, and each time made Rey queasy. Finally, the message appeared.

**| Can you talk?**

She looked at the time.

**| On campus atm. I have a final in 5 min.**

The response was immediate.

**| Call me after?**

She knew she must have been smiling like an idiot, but she didn't care who saw. They had no idea who she was talking to.

**| Will do.**

A final message came in, making her insides flutter.

**| Good luck.  
** **| Though I'm sure you'll be great.**

She sent him a quick 'thank you' and turned her phone off. She needed to get into a testing mindset. Needed to focus on Chemistry, but all she could think about was Ben and seeing him again when neither of them were constrained by the code of conduct any longer.

* * *

Rey managed to get her thoughts in order the moment the test started. She'd studied her ass off for this exam. It was by far the hardest of the term. Her art finals were project-based, and she'd turned those in on Monday. French was a breeze because it was an essay test, and she could write in French as easily as she could in English. Chemistry was her kryptonite, and all errant thoughts fled at the sight of the first question.

She walked out of the testing center emotionally and physically exhausted but glad the semester was officially over. Her neurons didn't start firing on all cylinders again until she was coasting up San Amaro, and she caught sight of the traffic circle where she'd gotten her first peek at Ben in next to nothing as he jogged down the street. It had only been four months, but it felt like a year had passed since that day. Her embarrassing crush had evolved into so much more.

She looped around the circle and headed down the side street toward his house. A block away, she pulled her phone from her pocket, initiating the call from the text app. He answered on the first ring.

"Hey," he said brightly.

"Hi," she replied, pulling up to a stop in front of his house. "Out of curiosity, are you home?"

"Why?" he asked, a thread of caution in his voice.

"Why do you think, genius? I'm outside."

The sound of leather crinkling and him grunting did terrible things to her libido. A moment later, the front door opened, and she pulled the phone away from her ear so he wouldn't hear the squeaking noise she made at the sight of him. He was in a pair of jeans and nothing else. She rolled her bike up the path slowly in an attempt to buy time and regain control of her breathing.

It was a wasted effort. With every step, she took in a new detail. The black elastic peeking out above the waistband of his trousers. The way his abdominal muscles flexed as he crossed his arms over his chest. Even looking away proved useless. It only made her notice the way his toes curled when he crossed one leg in front of the other to lean against the doorframe. She propped the bike next to the door and smiled up at him. He examined her with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

"This would have been easier over the phone," he said, a raw edge to his voice.

"Where's the fun in that?" she chimed. "Are you going to invite me in?"

His eyes narrowed at her, the seconds stretching out between them. Rey was just starting to wonder if he really wasn't going to let her in when he stepped aside. The door closed behind her, and he barely glanced at her as he moved into the living room. He reached over the back of the sofa and scooped a red tartan button-down from the cushion, slipping it over his head in a single, smooth motion. She nearly pouted at losing him bare-chested, but as the fabric settled into place, she found herself aroused in new ways. She'd never had a thing for lumberjacks, but it was never too late to try new things.

He stared at the back of the leather sofa in silence for what felt like an eternity before turning to her. "In case you haven't figured this out by now, I'm crazy about you. Emphasis on the crazy."

She stepped closer to him. "That feeling is mutual."

He stepped back. "But this is very dangerous terrain. There can't even be the possibility of the implication that any relationship existed between us during this course. Do you have any idea what it would mean if that allegation came up?"

"Sort of," she admitted. "I know it would be very bad for you."

"It would be. I could lose my job, my future in education, and more than likely be kicked out. That's not what I'm most worried about, though. Everyone in that class would have to retake it, and, as an ethics violation akin to _cheating,_ you could be kicked out too. I can't let that happen."

"But nothing happened."

"Enough happened." Ben sighed, digging his hands into his pockets. "Matt said something to me on Friday."

"Oh god. What?"

"That if I didn't ask you out after finals, he was going to."

Rey chuckled.

"It's not funny. It means he noticed, and if he did, then some of the others might have too. Worse yet, you probably have one of the highest grades in the class, if not _the_ highest. Anyone who sat through the lectures would know you earned that grade, but a review board won't. It looks bad."

She leaned against the back of the couch, giving him her profile. She had to stop looking at him. If she looked at him, her brain stopped working. If she looked elsewhere, she could mostly think; mostly. It wasn't what she'd hoped to hear. She wanted to be upset. To cry and argue. To unbutton that damn shirt and run her fingers along his skin. He was right, though. The tiniest whisper and the two of them were fucked. Not in the good way either. She sighed and wondered if she had the strength to forget him. She was pretty sure she didn't.

"So there was never a chance then, was there?" She tried to ignore the lump rising in her throat.

He came up beside her, his body radiating warmth. "I… We'd have to wait. Let some time pass. Get some distance from it."

"How long?"

"I wish I had a good answer. A few months, at least. I'm gonna be honest," his fingertips traced her forearm, "I'm not sure how long I could wait."

Her stomach tightened at the tremor in his voice. "What…" she squeaked. She cleared her throat, trying again. "What about the summer?" That sounded stronger, if a little on the breathy side. "I was thinking of going away for the summer. Back home."

"That's a good idea." His voice was low and heavy in her ears.

"Could I see you when I got back?"

"I think that would be okay." He ran his hand back down her arm. "I need to ask you to leave now."

Her head snapped around to his, stunned by the suddenness of the request. The look on his face froze her in place. He'd always been so guarded, stopping himself before he said or did anything that might do more than skirt the line of propriety. The open hunger in his eyes was so far beyond that line it nearly unraveled her entirely. Damn the school. Damn the future. Damn the whole galaxy. She wanted that look to last forever. She turned her arm to capture his hand in hers. Their fingers laced together so naturally, she wondered what possessed them to wait so long to try.

"I could stay for a few minutes, couldn't I?"

"I'm afraid if you do, you'll stay a lot longer than that." He smiled down at where their hands were intertwined. "There's no one else here. We're alone."

A shiver ran through her, which was insane because her whole body was on fire. She let the implication settle in, following the thread. One of them would finally kiss the other. Clothes would come off. Burning questions would be answered. And in the sweaty, panting afterglow, she would definitely not leave the States. She shoved off the sofa, extricating herself from his grip. The barest grumble emerged from his chest, but he let her go. She took several steps back to ensure she wouldn't be tempted again.

"I'll leave next week. Before the grades are released."

"That's probably wise." He hesitated a moment. "And this weekend?"

She'd forgotten about Poe's party. Skipping it wasn't an option. There was no universe in which she could bring herself to stay at home knowing that his house was open to the world and only a bike ride away.

"I suppose one last night of temptation is in order."

He shook his head and smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

The problem with knowing that she wanted to jump Ben's bones (and now knowing in no uncertain terms that he wanted the same) but also knowing that neither of them could have that thing they so desperately wanted had the unique effect of making it impossible to choose an outfit for Poe's party. She tried on nearly every article of clothing in her closet in various configurations, looking for _the_ outfit that would be comfortable and sexy, but not too sexy. Hours were wasted, her room was an unmitigated disaster, and she was no closer to appropriate vestment when Kay sauntered in. The problem was solved five seconds later.

"Wear your Old Republic bathing suit with the matching beach dress." Kay rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious answer.

It kind of was. The mismatched swimsuit was the right balance of cute, comfortable, and sexy but not too sexy. Blue bottom with pink strings and a pink halter top with blue strings. It exposed her back entirely, offering copious glimpses of collarbone while fully obscuring the chest region. No cleavage, no side boob. It also covered all the necessary nether regions while still giving hints of hip and butt curve. Kay was a genius. She'd also been the one who picked the suit. Finally, the beach dress was a grey fabric so thin it was nearly sheer, but it was loose and flowing. Not hugging her shape but not really hiding it either.

To cut their travel time in half, they chose to ride to the party. Rey was on her bike pulling Kay behind her on a skateboard. They'd practiced this maneuver often, reaching the house just before sunset. Kay led them around the side of the house to a shed in the back where they could stash their vehicles without fearing their disappearance. Things did occasionally disappear at Poe's parties. Shoes, shirts, shame, etc.

The man whose name was synonymous with fun was at his usual early evening station in the kitchen ensuring everyone was well lubricated when they arrived. He gave each of them big hugs and sent them on their way with tasty beverages. The special for the evening was, of course, hurricanes. He'd even bought green and orange plastic cups for everyone to enjoy.

After the first tour of the house and no immediate sign of Ben, Rey made her way upstairs. She found him shooting pool with a couple of people in the game room. When he caught sight of her in the hall, he flinched, his lips parting ever so slightly as his eyes traveled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes and back again. It took every ounce of resolve in her body not to turn into a puddle in the hallway.

"Do you always hide at Poe's parties?" she asked casually as she entered.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I don't like big crowds. Least of all drunk ones."

He moved towards her, eyes searching the green felt for a shot. Finding one he liked, he bent over a corner pocket. She didn't recognize any of the onlookers in the room and prayed none of them would think twice as she helped herself to an uninterrupted look at him. He was in grey UM branded swim trunks and a black t-shirt that strained over his arms as he brought the pool cue slowly back and thrust it forward at speed. Resin clacked together and the balls zipped across the table, but Rey couldn't be bothered to notice them.

Ben stood again, checking his work before glancing in her direction. He smiled when he realized she'd been staring, and she rushed to look away. He appeared at her side a moment later, placed a hand at the small of her back, and leaned toward her. The tip of his nose brushed her hair when he spoke, the words coming out in the gentlest voice she'd ever heard.

"You look beautiful."

The room spun around her as he returned to the table to take his next shot. It seemed impossible that she could make it through the night without ravishing him. The whole thing was a terrible idea. She needed distance. She needed to think. She needed him not to bend over at that exact moment. Rey stared into her cup until the sounds of billiard balls knocking together filled the air.

"I'm going to head downstairs," she said abruptly.

He nodded. "Will you smoke with us later?"

"Not tonight. I promised Kay I'd do shots with her."

"That sounds like a terrible idea," he said, a tinge of fear in his voice.

"I'm starting to agree with you," she admitted.

"I'll see you in a bit, then. Probably around the time Poe starts cooking."

"A wise choice. He was thoroughly pissed the last time. It's a wonder he's never hurt himself," Rey mused.

"Oh, he has," Ben chuckled. "Which is why I started intervening."

* * *

The good thing about not seeing Ben for the next few hours was that Rey didn't have to wrestle with temptation. The bad thing about not seeing Ben for the next few hours was that Kay had her completely trashed by the time Poe fired up the grill. The world was already spinning when she wobbled into the backyard for a burger. It went into freefall a few minutes later when Ben arrived carrying trays of food. Somewhere in the last handful of hours, his shirt had disappeared, and it was doing confusing things to her. She couldn't decide if she was angry or turned on or both. Probably both. Definitely both.

Kay led her toward the pool, intent on getting her into the water. It sounded like a wonderful idea. She pulled her dress off with great effort and spun in a wide circle looking for a place to deposit it. Kay was there to angle her in the direction of a table piled high with cell phones, towels, and sundry articles of clothing. She deposited her dress on the floor in front of it and frowned. That was not the intended target. She stooped to retrieve it and banged her head on the way back up.

"Bollocks!" she shouted. Kay chuckled, taking the dress from her and placing it on the table. "Thanks, luv."

Kay wrapped her arms around Rey's waist and walked her towards the water. A vivid image appeared in Rey's mind. She pictured herself sitting down with her plate of food after splashing around in the water. Dripping hands reaching onto her plate to scoop up a delicious burger. Chlorinated water dripping down her arms. Soggy fingertips wrapping around a fluffy bun as it dissolved under her touch into a slimy mess.

"Wait!" she called.

"What? What's wrong?" Kay asked.

"I don't want to get my burger squishy and yucky. We have to wait," Rey said firmly, accentuating the statement with a crisp nod.

Kay's eyes went wide as saucers. "Ohmygodyoureright!" She pincered her thumbs against her other fingers. "We'll get our food wet. I don't want a salad."

Rey frowned, trying her damnedest to work out what the hell salad had to do with anything. She couldn't. The smell of greasy meat filling the air calling her attention back to the grill. The grill master stood alone, plastic cup in one hand, metal burger flippy thingy in the other. She tried to remember the word. She couldn't. It occurred to her then just how drunk she was. The hunger overrode her other instincts, and she sauntered toward him.

"Poe!" she barked.

"Hey!" he said with all the joy and surprise of a man who had not just taken the last round of shots with them.

"My stomach is growly."

"I know!" he replied. "Mine too."

"So which one's done?" Rey asked, peeking into the grill.

"Maybe this one?" Poe said, prodding a floppy disk of meat. Rey eyed it suspiciously. It didn't _look_ done, but she was hungry.

"Alright, you two." The fact that Ben's voice could make her shiver was less frustrating than she knew it ought to be. She tried to remember why it ought to be frustrating. She couldn't. "Everyone step away from the grill."

"C'mon, man." Poe waved the metal burger flippy thingy in a wide arc and nearly decapitated Rey. It had a nasty looking edge that she was certain could take her head off. Ben caught his arm before it got too close to her face, and Rey felt a wellspring of fondness for him.

"Both of you. Back away," Ben said again. Poe relinquished his tool and wandered toward the house. "You too, Rey."

"You saved my life."

Ben frowned.

"Poe nearly killed me."

He eyed the spatula - that was the word - then her. "You're wasted."

"Mhm." She couldn't find fault in his argument.

"Let's get you away from the open flames, then, shall we?" He stepped closer to her, but she did not step back, letting his body line up against hers. His bare chest to her nearly-bare everything else. He snaked an arm around her back and began to walk. Her legs moved under her in an autonomic reaction to the motion. Even inebriated, her brain was still smarter than her. Wait. That didn't make sense.

The warmth in front of her vanished, but he wasn't at the grill. She looked up into the night sky, wondering where he might have gone. He appeared a moment later, taking a more terrestrial trajectory on his return. A bottle of cold water pressed into her stomach, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Drink this. All of it," Ben said.

"But I'm hungry."

He shook his head. "All of it."

"Fine," she pouted.

* * *

A while later, Rey wasn't sure how long, she felt surer on her feet. Food, two bottles of water, and no additional alcohol went a long way. She felt better about getting in the water… or at least less certain she'd drown. Her certainty in her levels of drunkenness wavered when she looked around and realized Ben had disappeared. She hadn't noticed. Also, when had Kay gotten in the pool?

"What are you waiting for?" Kay called.

She _was_ waiting. She tried to remember what for. She couldn't. Screw it. The water was beckoning, and who was she to deny the siren's song? The pool was colder than she expected, drawing goosebumps on her skin as she waded in. There was a more traditional set of steps on the deep end and a gradual incline on the shallow side. Ankle-deep water sloped gently to about knee height (for her) before dropping to three feet. She stared at the ominous drop, shivering at the thought of submerging. Kay was there a moment later to drag her off the ledge.

Rey's body was enveloped in a cold that constricted her muscles and closed off her lungs. She kicked hard for the surface and broke into the open air gasping. The warm evening breeze was still cold against her skin. She paddled unsteadily for the incline, crawling up the slope and collapsing onto her back in ankle-deep water. Perhaps swimming while so thoroughly intoxicated wasn't as much fun as she thought it would be. It was definitely sobering, though.

What few stars she could see were swirling in the inky blackness of the sky, reminding her of van Gogh, which reminded her of her essay, which reminded her of Ben. He appeared seconds later, towering over her like a dark angel.

"How'd you do that?" she asked.

His brow pinched and righted itself. "Do what?"

"Read my mind."

He crouched at the edge of the pool, dropping his voice. "Were you thinking about me?" She could feel the flush creep up her cheeks, and his smile grew. "I'll take that as a yes."

Ben disappeared again from her view and once more, she found herself staring into starlight and wondering where he'd gone. Kay began tugging at her foot, probably to get her back into the water. She sat up, fully intent on telling Kay off, only it wasn't Kay reaching for her toes.

"You alright?" Ben asked. "You look a little pale."

It was hard to tell if it was the alcohol or her own intense attraction that made him look so divine. Water dripped in tiny rivers from his dark hair down his cheeks. Beads of it collected along his lashes, dripped from the edge of his nose and down the seam of his lips. She scooted closer, intent on wrapping herself around his long torso. He stepped back as she reached the edge, making her frown. Her arms shot out in front of her, fingers curling, beckoning him closer. He chuckled, head shaking in amusement.

"I'm too drunk to swim on my own," she whined. "Help me."

He waded closer, turning his back to her as he bumped against the edge of the incline. It wasn't what she wanted, but Rey would take what she could get. She curled around him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist and pressing her body against his back. When she was secure, he waded into the water, dipping down so they were submerged to the chest. The renewed cold caused her to tighten her grip on him.

"I got you," he whispered.

She settled her chin on his shoulder and hummed contentedly.

"None of that," he warned.

"None of what?" She was genuinely confused.

"No noises out of you."

"You take all the fun out of life."

He turned his head toward her, dropping his voice so only she could hear it. "Come see me in August and we'll see if you still feel that way."

"You're a monster."

A wicked smile spread across his face. "Yes, I am."

He turned away again, Poe and Kay coming into view.

"Monkey!" Poe shouted, pointing at Rey. She splashed him. He splashed back. A war ensued, and the night spun ever onward.

* * *

"Holy shit, is it that late already?" Rey stared at the hour on the microwave.

"Yup," Poe replied, retrieving a water bottle from the fridge and handing it to her.

"No wonder."

She scanned the nearly empty house. A few people were still loitering on the pool deck. Several more were passed out on the couch in the living room or the adjoining floor space. Ben had gone to do a sweep of the second floor. It was common practice for them to ensure no one had fallen asleep in one of their bedrooms. Kay had passed out on a pool chair hours back and been transferred to a guest room. Rey should probably wake her soon so they could head home. The sun would be up any minute.

"We're clear," Ben said, returning to the kitchen. As it had a hundred times that night, his gaze traveled up and down her body before wandering away. Every time he did it, her stomach fluttered.

"You gonna crash?" Poe asked. Both heads turned to Rey, and she realized the question was aimed at her.

"Oh, actually I was thinking of heading home soon. I just need to get Kay up."

Poe snorted. "Good luck with that. Sleeping Beauty isn't going anywhere for a while. Trust me, I've been down this road." It was true Kay was a heavy sleeper. The drink likely made it worse. "You can grab something from lost and found to sleep in."

"You have a lost and found?"

"Number of parties Poe throws?" Ben asked. "Of course we do. Come on."

Ben led her across the house into a laundry room. He threw open a closet filled with shelves of household cleaning products on her left and a rack of assorted men's and women's clothes on her right.

"We wash everything. Sometimes people come back for the stuff they left, but mostly it just gets redistributed. We throw out underwear."

"People leave their underwear?" Rey asked, stepping into the closet.

"Does that surprise you?"

"I suppose it doesn't."

She turned to look at him. He was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, openly admiring her. There was no one around. This part of the house was relatively remote. They'd been good. It was well past time to be a little bad. She scanned the shelves looking for an opening.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the shelf over the clothing rack. There was a large cardboard box nestled in the back corner.

"No clue." Ben pushed off the frame, eyeing the box as he approached. She moved aside to give him room and once he was between her and the wall, she drew closer. He stepped away, a tiny, frustrated noise coming from his throat.

"Rey," he warned.

"What?" she chuckled.

His back hit the wall, and she took the opportunity to slide her body against his. He tried to squirm free without putting his hands on her until she ran her nails up his abdomen, and he stopped squirming. He tilted his head back, banged it once against the wall.

"You, you, you, you, you," he muttered.

She scratched back down to the waistband of his trunks, and he banged his head against the wall a second time.

"God, you are making this impossible."

"There's no one here to see. We'll be alright."

"Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

She stood on her tiptoes and planted a lingering kiss under his chin. "I could make it harder for you."

Before she could blink, her back hit the wall. Ben towered over her, hands digging into her hips. He banged the top of his head against the wall, and she could hear the nearly imperceptible grunt. His lips grazed her ear a moment later.

"It's hard enough, I assure you." He pushed his body against hers, and the thin fabric between them made it clear just how hard he meant. "Do you have any idea how impossible it's been keeping my hands off you?" One of the hands in question slid down her leg and up her beach dress, fingers skating across her hip and tangling in the string of her swimsuit. "But there are consequences, Rey." He was rubbing little circles into her hip with his thumb.

She reached up to tangle her hands in his still damp hair, and he sighed. Warm breath lifted the hairs on her neck. He banged his head again.

"I'll be gone soon," she whispered. "If the last week has felt like an eternity, then I can't imagine what the summer will be like." She kissed his shoulder. He banged his head. "I want something to remember you by." She kissed his neck. He banged his head. "Kiss me, Ben." She kissed his earlobe. He banged his head. "Please," she whispered in his ear.

"You may not remember me in a month," he sighed.

All the lust that had been building broke in an instant. "You can't be serious?"

"Dead serious." He placed his forehead against hers with a pained sigh. "It's exceedingly common for students to form attractions to their instructors and within a few weeks of the class ending, the attraction is gone. It's situational. The dynamics of power in a classroom. There's too much at stake for both of us to risk it on a passing interest."

"Is that what you've been worried about?" His eyes fell closed. "That I'm going to get a leg over and move on?"

"Why do you say shit like that?" He slid his head back to the wall, banging against it once more.

"Look at me." She tugged his hair, pulling a gasp from his throat. "Look at me, or so help me god, I will make you." She added a bit of pressure to drive the point home.

When he didn't comply, she tugged harder until his neck was bared for her. She wanted nothing more than to sink her teeth into him and leave a lovely mark, but she had something far more important to do. She released her grip and slid her hands down his neck, thumbs brushing his jaw. When he looked down at her, there was a sadness in his eyes that she hated immediately and intensely.

"I want you to listen very carefully to me. I had a stupid crush on you at the start of term. If I still had that crush now, I wouldn't be here. I want so much more from you than a simple kiss. I want the oceans you've never seen before. The foods you've never eaten before. I want your laughter. Your brilliant mind. I want your hands on the gearshift. I want you to speak to me in every language you know, and I want to watch you learn new ones. Ben, I want to know who you are when you aren't afraid to want me."

His hands trailed further up her body, wrapping around her back and pulling her closer to him.

"If that means I have to go across the ocean for two months and pretend that you meant nothing more to me than a good teacher means to a student; to cut you from my heart on the promise that when I get back, I will be given a snowball's chance of seeing you again, then so bloody help me, I will. If it will prove to you that there is no version of this scenario in which I don't come knocking on your door in August, then I will leave this place unsatisfied. Rest assured, Ben Solo, I will be back, and you will pay for doubting me."

"There's one problem." He flattened his palm against her back and brought her closer. She had to snake her arms around his neck to allow for the proximity.

"And what's that?" she asked as his nose brushed against her.

"After that speech, there is no version of this scenario in which I let you leave unsatisfied." His lips hovered over hers. "Promise you'll come back to me, Rey."

"Promise you'll wait."

"I'd wait an eternity for you."

"It won't take that long." She rushed through the words, no longer able to stand the distance between them. She closed it in a frenzy.

His lips were softer than she ever could have imagined as he pressed them against hers in a series of gentle kisses. Her tongue darted out, licking his bottom lip, and he gasped when he opened himself up to her. The feeling of his tongue sliding against hers for the first time was the most dizzying intoxicant she'd ever experienced. Their tongues and bodies tangled together in an unhurried exploration. She laced her fingers through his hair again, and he moaned into her mouth. His hands dipped down to her ass, lifting her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around him as her back hit the wall again.

He was drinking her in, stealing the very breath from her lungs, and she wanted more. She bit his bottom lip. His fingers dug into her thighs in response. He pressed his hips into her, and she sobbed at just how good it felt. He nipped at her chin. At her jaw. At her neck, latching on, teeth grazing her skin. His name flying from her mouth on a shaking breath. He traveled lower, pushing the paper-thin fabric of her dress down with his chin. Kissing her collarbone and the hollow of throat.

"Stop," she whispered.

Ben froze. Every muscle in his body tensed like a rubber band stretched too tight. Rey took several steadying breaths. The bright halogen light in the closet stung her eyes. "We should stop."

"You're right," he admitted. He let out a long, slow breath against her throat. "I'm gonna put you down."

She dropped her legs and they found the floor. His arms slid out from beneath her dress, adjusting it so that it covered her again. Finally, he stepped back, and Rey's whole body screamed at the loss of warmth.

"I promise," she said.

* * *

Rey did not crash at Ben's that morning. Instead, she biked home alone as the sun rose through a canopy of Banyan trees. A few days later, she flew home for the summer. She did not see Ben again before she left. She sent him a text when she departed, and his response was waiting for her when she touched down. It read simply: _'Enjoy your summer.'_

She did exactly that. Her first couple of weeks she took a much needed break from schoolwork to paint for herself. She whiled away afternoons in the city. Took a long weekend to Cardiff and a week in Glasgow to visit friends. In late June, she took a walkabout on the mainland, heading north into places unknown. Her funds weren't limitless, but her grandfather's estate could bear the burden of a summer sojourn if she stayed frugal.

The last thing Rey expected was for her feelings about Ben to change, but change they did. The initial desire that had burned through her like wildfire cooled with distance. She began to understand his fear. There had been something exciting about forbidden fruit. An allure that wore off over time, its absence lifting the veil on their interactions. Revealing the way the threat of being caught doing something they ought not to be played into the tension between them. Heightening anxiety and anticipation alike.

In mid-July, another surprise arrived in the form of a message from Matt. They'd chatted briefly during the semester about him planning a trip to London. This was before she knew he was interested. She'd agreed to show him around, and she decided to keep that promise. He arrived a few days after his message, and Rey spent the next few days playing tour guide to her classmate. His flirtations got more obvious with each passing day, and when they spent an evening at her Kensington home drinking wine and talking about life, he tried to kiss her. She turned him down.

It didn't shock Rey when he asked if it had anything to do with Ben. She surprised herself at how easily she lied about it. He'd misread things, she explained. Ben had mentioned his comment, and she told Matt they simply had something in common they both kept quiet: their families. The tie between their grandfathers was what drew them together, nothing more.

Matt wasn't convinced until Rey produced photographic evidence of the connection. Old war pictures of the English and American military leaders standing side by side in the late forties. She found pictures of the Skywalker children among her grandfather's albums. Even went online to show Matt pictures of Ben's mother Leia, the Senator from Connecticut. Her Wikipedia page did wonders for connecting all the dots. In the end, Matt agreed he'd misconstrued the situation.

As July drew to a close and she prepared for her trip back to Florida, she was calmer than she thought she'd be. The agony of leaving things unresolved had lulled her into believing that the closer she got to returning, the more excited she'd feel about it. That just wasn't the case. The truth was, they'd barely communicated during the break. She'd sent him a handful of pictures. He'd responded mostly with emojis. Few words were shared.

What she really felt was a steadily growing fear. So much had changed for her that she wondered if it had changed for him too. If it would change once they spoke. She'd promised she'd return, and she intended to keep that promise, but nothing between them had been simple and the time apart had only made it more complicated.

In the airport, she toyed with the idea of sending him a text and decided against it. Her flight arrived late at night on a Tuesday. She unpacked on Wednesday, not yet ready to face him. Not yet sure she could. On Thursday, she knew that she couldn't delay any longer. She should go see him. No matter what the outcome, she owed him that. She'd promised.

* * *

"Welcome back!" Poe wrapped his arms around Rey, lifting her off the ground in a crushing bear hug. "You look good. How you been? "

"Brilliant," Rey replied. "I had a great summer. You?"

"The best," he replied, setting her down. "Come on in." He shut the door behind her, leading her into the living room. "We're having an end of summer blowout next weekend. You gonna be there?"

"I think so. Depends."

He pursed his lips at her, gaze drifting up to the second floor. "Well, I hope you are."

He nodded toward the steps. It confirmed her suspicions that Ben had shared his feelings with Poe. She thanked him and made her way up to the second floor. When she got up to the game room, it was empty. She turned back towards the hall, realizing that she had no idea which room was his, or if he was even in his own room. Any one of the doors could lead to any number of alternate room. Hell, at least one of them had to be a bathroom.

She made her way back towards the stairs, hoping Poe could direct her. She didn't quite make it to the end of the hall when a door flew open behind her.

"Hey, Poe, could you—" Ben paused when he saw her. "Oh."

Rey smiled at the floating torso leaning into the hallway. His face was a careful neutral; it tugged on the fear coiling its way up her spine.

"You're back," he said conversationally.

"I am," she replied calmly.

"It's good to see you." He searched her face, and this time she knew what he was looking for, what he'd always been looking for every time before. A reason to take the leap. A sign that it wouldn't be in vain. "Come on in, I was just unpacking."

"You were traveling?" She stepped into his room, taking her first good look at his private space.

"I had a class over the summer, so I was stuck here. I went to visit my folks for a few days."

He stooped over a suitcase on his bed while she scanned the walls. Everything was neat and orderly. The bed made. Bookshelves lined with organized rows of books. She scanned the spines and noticed they were alphabetically sorted by author. Even the collage on his wall was confined to a single cork board where he'd tacked up random bits and bobs. Next to it, a few framed pictures of his family… and her painting. She smiled, remembering the hope she'd felt that he might hang it up and think of her.

"What about you?" he asked. "You did a lot of traveling this summer."

"I did. I'd been to southern Europe a million times, but I'd never really wandered north of Poland. I figured the best time to see Finland was in the summer. I don't know if I could handle it in the winter."

Ben chuckled, ducking into his closet. "And was it everything you'd hoped for?"

"Yes and no," she admitted sadly.

He appeared in the doorway of the closet, frowning at her. "Did something happen?"

"You could say that." She sighed. "Ben, I owe you an apology."

It was like a cruel magic trick. Everything slammed shut. She couldn't look at him. If she looked at him, she'd never get through it.

"You were right. You were right to wait, and you were right about things changing. I don't feel the same way about you that I did before."

"I see," he said.

"I don't think you do." She pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through it. When she found the video she was looking for, she handed it to him. "Press play."

He did. Even though she couldn't see it, she could still see the beach in her mind's eye, its spear-tip shape the result of the waves breaking against it from two sides. She remembered starting the video at the edge of the grass and walking closer to the breakers. The afternoon sunlight dimmed by the grey cloud cover. The breeze whipping at her clothes and hair. Ben sat on his bed.

"What am I looking at?"

"The last place I stopped on my trip before I went back to London." Rey sat next to him, peering at her phone. "Grenen. The northmost point in Denmark." She pointed at the way the waves came in at different angles. "It's the place where the Kattegat Sea meets the North Sea at the strait of Skagerrak. The currents are so violent that you can't actually go swimming, but you can dip your toe in." She heard herself laugh as the water hit her legs. "It's freezing, by the way."

 _"Fuck, this water is cold,"_ she heard herself say.

Ben smiled, shaking his head. The camera turned back toward the shore, wobbled a bit, then flipped so she could see herself in the frame.

 _"There we are. Hello, future me. Hello, Ben. I have a gift for you."_ Rey waved to the water in the background. _"An ocean you've never seen before. Okay, it's not an ocean, but it's two seas. That's got to count right?"_ Ben chuckled. _"I know we haven't spoken much this summer, and if I did this correctly, I've probably already told you the hard part. I'm glad we took some time apart because… because I've missed the hell out of you, and to be honest, it's a bit scary."_

Rey stood then, unable to watch this terrifying admission unfold. It was hard enough doing it without him there. She couldn't watch herself doing it with him sitting right next to her.

 _"I've seen so many amazing places this summer. I always imagined that I'd think of my grandfather. It's something we both loved so much. I did think of him some, but I thought of you more. God, I wished you'd been there with me in Copenhagen where the streets are lined with houses of every color. And Rovaniemi, which has the most beautiful river I've ever seen in my life. The food in Oslo,_ j'en ai l'eau à la bouche."

Ben laughed loudly at her use of the French idiom. It was true, though; even now, her mouth was watering just thinking about the delicious food she'd eaten in Norway.

_"I'm afraid of you, Ben. Afraid that when the desire to rip off all your clothes started to wane, I still wanted you around. That when I turned a corner in Helsinki and saw a tall man with broad shoulders walking down the street, I nearly ran after him because I thought it might be you. I saw you everywhere this summer, and that frightens me. So here I am. I'm more than risk. I'm a responsibility. This time apart is your doing, and I am so ready to fall in love with you it's, frankly, embarrassing."_

Rey choked at the sound of her words. She'd forgotten she said that. The ordeal had been so crippling she'd never re-watched the video, too afraid she'd delete it if she did.

 _"I assume by the time you watch this the minimum requisite amount of time will have passed and we could safely be seen together without too many eyebrows raising. Even if we can't, even if we have to carry on in secret for a time, I am willing to try. Have a care, though. I am smitten with that enormous brain of yours, and I have done nothing but miss you for weeks. You'd better be ready."_ There was a pause, the only sounds coming from her cell phone speakers the waves and wind. _"I think the hole is deep enough now. I can't imagine showing you this. Fuck, what have I done?"_

The playback ended abruptly. Rey stared out Ben's window, eyeing the pool deck with greater interest than she felt. She heard the springs on his bed creak. The soft footfalls of bare feet on carpet. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close.

"It was your essay," he whispered. "Beautiful, and sensual, and startlingly brilliant. I've thought about you every day since I read it. You'd stolen the words from my soul. There was no way to stop myself from falling for you. I told myself I was imagining things. That you couldn't possibly be the woman I've dreamed of meeting my whole life. No one could be that perfect. No one could be everything I'd ever wanted. But every day you proved me wrong, and I got more and more scared that the whole thing would come crashing down. You were always more than a risk, Rey. You were every hope of my heart, and I am not the least bit embarrassed at the prospect of falling in love with you."

She turned in his arms, let the joy in her heart replace the fear she'd been holding onto. "When do we start?"

Ben gave her the best possible answer when he leaned in and kissed her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING**
> 
> This chapter contains explicit depictions of sex. If this was not what you're looking for please skip. If it is, please enjoy. :)

They whiled away the afternoon, content in simply sharing each other's company, lying in Ben's bed as Rey recounted her summer. She showed him the nearly three hundred pictures she'd taken. He needled her about Matt's visit. She impressed him with her deceptions. Poe let them know he'd made dinner and there was plenty for all. Apparently, Poe didn't know how to cook for less than an army.

They ate, they laughed, and Poe made it clear how glad he was that _'You two idiots figured your shit out.'_

After dinner, she followed Ben back up to his room and they lay together while he told her about his trip to Connecticut, his family, the argument he'd had with his father. The exhaustion of travel, the stress leading up to her visit, the soothing sound of his voice and safety of being in his arms conspired against her until she was lulled into sleep. She woke only once in the night, momentarily panicked at being in a strange place. His arms tightened around her. Her fear waned, and she drifted away again moments later.

She woke slowly the next morning, her consciousness floating up from sleep in bits. The warm presence next to her was the first thing she sensed. Then his breathing. The feel of each breath against the nape of her neck. She focused on the other sensations, trying to parse the ethereal from the real. She adjusted her arm, and the one around her waist moved. A knee between her legs. Lips on her neck.

Rey opened her eyes to darkness and waited for them to adjust. The bright blur of light on the nightstand resolved into neatly ordered numbers. It was four minutes to five in the morning. She'd slept through the night, waking when her body was wont to wake during the semester. She turned toward the body in the bed next to her and could just make out the shape of his face in the dim.

'What time is it?' he asked, voice still thick with sleep.

'Almost five,' she whispered.

'Makes sense.'

'What does?'

'Poe leaves for work around five. The alarm always wakes me up.'

Rey vaguely remembered a beeping noise in her dreams and wondered if that was the cause. She threw her leg over his hip, drawing him closer. He responded by pressing his hand into the small of her back.

'I usually wake up around this time too.'

'That's unfortunate.'

'Unfortunate for whom?'

Ben chuckled, nuzzling into her neck. 'Any way I can convince you to go back to sleep?'

She ran her fingers through his hair, and he purred against her skin. 'I know of one.'

'Rey,' he breathed.

Just the sound of her name dripping from his lips made her body ache for him. All the feverish desire that had ebbed away came roaring back to life in the dark of his bed and the knowledge that there was no one around to hear her scream. She pushed him back, rolling on top of him as she took his lips. His hands traveled up and down her thighs. His mouth opening up to her. His scent filling her lungs.

The afternoon before, their kisses had been leisurely and slow. Now, she wanted to devour him. To take what was his and make it hers. She searched his mouth with her tongue, greedily, hungrily. It wasn't enough to satisfy the growing desire burning through her veins. She'd waited so long to touch him. To feel him in this way. She wanted all of him and she wanted it now. Her hips moved against his, his erection growing against her with each thrust.

He broke away from her mouth with a gasp.

'Wait. Wait. Rey.' Fingers dug into her hips, pinning her in place. 'Are you sure? We don't have to rush into this. We can take our time.'

She laughed, and she was fairly certain it was the most nefarious sound she'd ever made. She dropped her head until it was level with his ear.

'I hope to god that perfect woman you've been dreaming of wasn't a withering, virginal, ingenue because if she was, I'm about to disappoint you.' His fingers dug deeper into her sides, bruising in their intensity. Luckily for her, years of daily riding made her legs far stronger than he could ever hope to contain. She gripped the headboard, spread her knees, and ground her hips against him. 'Eight. Months.' She enunciated each word, grinding against him again. 'If we go any slower we'll be going in reverse.' She began to move more rhythmically, the cotton no longer able to hide his desire, spikes of pleasure rising up her torso with each pass. 'I don't want to slow down, Ben. Do you?'

'God, no,' he grunted, exploding into motion. The headboard tore free of her grasp when he sat, his mouth finding hers. She would have fallen backward onto the bed if not for his arms pinning her body to his. Free hands clawed at his shirt, inch by inch drawing it up his back while their tongues danced together. When it was finally out of her way, she raked her nails down his back and he shivered, releasing her. She fell, squeaking when she hit the bed.

Ben pulled the shirt over his head in a single smooth motion, and even in the darkness she could see the glorious expanse of chest. She reached for him, fingers tracing his collarbone. He took hold of the waistband of her shorts and tugged them down. She lifted her ass so he could shimmy them free, her panties disappearing with them. Her legs went up, and he slid the unwanted garments free. He held her right leg to his cheek, letting the other fall back to bed.

'I'll tell you a secret.' He kissed her calf. 'At my age, few men want a virgin.' He kissed the tender skin behind her knee. 'I've never cared for withering.' He tucked his knees beneath him and leaned down to kiss her thigh. 'And ingenue? Well, you picked the wrong word.' He kissed higher on her thigh, and her breathing stuttered. 'An ingenue only pretends to be innocent, when in reality, she knows exactly what she wants and how to get it.' He bit down at the crest of her thigh, and stars exploded behind her eyes. 'So, yes, I've always wanted an ingenue,' he breathed against her lips. 'And no, I'm not disappointed.'

His tongue darted out, parting her from opening to hood. She cried out, reaching for his hair. Arms curled around her thighs, pulling her legs apart to give him unfettered access to her cunt. He licked up the length of her again, flicking his tongue against her clit. Robbing her of conscious thought. He kissed her other thigh. 'I take requests.'

She tried to respond, but all that came out was a whimper.

He kissed further down her leg. 'Nothing? You sure?'

Words still escaped her, but she growled and adjusted her hips to bring him closer to what she wanted.

He chuckled and dove back in, lapping at her cunt like a man dying of thirst. He started slow, each stroke deep and searching. When he wrapped his mouth around her clit and sucked, she cried out. His tongue flicked quickly against it as he sucked until she was bucking against him.

The pressure abated. He wound his tongue in circles around her clit, drawing an arm back toward him. She felt his thumb against her opening. It slid up and down as he teased her. The added sensation was maddening. As if reading her thoughts, his free hand slid up her body, dipping under her shirt and just as easily under her bralette until it enveloped her breast. His mouth slid down her leg again, pressing gentle kisses into her thigh. His thumb slid up to her clit and a finger pushed inside her as he pinched her nipple.

His name slipped from her mouth in a rush, and he grunted against her skin, biting down. Fingers working in and out of her, curling at the end and hitting that perfect spot.

'There. There. There. Oh god, right there,' she whined.

'Here?' he asked, voice ragged as he pressed his fingers against her g-spot.

'Yes,' she moaned.

He slid a second finger inside her, found that spot again, and sucked her clit.

'Shit,' Rey breathed. 'Shit, I'm going to come.' He backed off her clit, and she growled.

It was all the prompting he seemed to need. He flicked his tongue against her clit faster than she thought possible. The tingling sensation spread up her legs and through her body until every inch of her was on fire. Blessed orgasmic oblivion burned through her until she was thrashing against the strong arms pinning her to the bed. Everything fell away in afterglow. She didn't notice when he removed his mouth from between her legs, or when the pressure on her thighs abated, or when he slid up beside her.

Lips brushed her ear. 'Happy?'

'Mhm' was all she could manage.

'Does that mean we can go back to sleep?' he asked.

She had the presence of mind to reach out and smack his arm. After that performance, sleep was a long way off yet. There was still more she wanted, and thinking about the feel of him inside her sent fresh spasms coursing through her body.

His hand slid across her abdomen, making her shiver. 'No sleep then?' He rolled her toward him and stole a chaste kiss.

She reached between them, rubbing his dick through his trousers. 'No sleep,' she said, stealing a less than chaste kiss. Her fingers worked to undo the single button in her way and slipped under the fabric. He moaned into her mouth, and she smiled when she realized he wasn't wearing anything underneath. 'Well, this is a surprise.'

'I don't normally wear anything to bed,' he panted.

'You should go with that next time.'

She wrapped her fingers around him and stroked. His head snapped back, exposing his neck. She propped herself on her elbow and latched onto the exposed skin. She stroked him faster, making sure to apply extra pressure to the head before sliding back down the shaft. She kissed him lower, biting his collarbone. Kissing over his heart. Grazing her teeth across his nipple. Enjoying every gasp and grunt and moan. The trousers became a nuisance and she sat up, tugging at them.

'These need to go,' she said, moving to get into the proper vantage point to remove them. He lifted his hips, and she tugged them free, pulling them at the hem until they were no longer in her way. She took the opportunity to remove her shirt and was reaching for her bralette when he sat up, taking her wrists.

'Allow me.' He pulled her into his lap until his dick slid against her, and she gasped.

Ben's hands trailed slowly up her back while he planted kisses down her chest. He found the edge of the fabric, lazily searching for a clasp. In the absence of one, he tucked his fingers under the fabric and slid them around to her sides, making her shiver. He lifted gently, long digits snaking up her body toward her arms. She raised them in response, and his palms trailed along her skin, stopping to grip her elbows. Her eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness now, and she could clearly see the devious smile spreading across his lips as he inched closer to her face.

'This could be fun,' he said, twisting the bralette in his hands so it tightened around her arms, pinning them.

'You ruin my bralette, and I'll murder you in your sleep,' she replied.

'Would that be before or after you have your way with me?'

'Definitely after.'

He released his grip on her arms, and she dropped them from their prison. She placed her hands on his shoulders, he wound his arms around her torso, and they gazed at each other in the dark. Her mind wandered back to the first time she'd done this, young and frightened. Her heart hammering in her chest. Her hands fumbling and uncertain. It had felt so important then. So meaningful and powerful. It hadn't been, then, though it took her time to come to terms with that. It hadn't been any of the times that followed, either. Whether she was reaching out for companionship or falling into bed with a man she loved. They were beautiful moments, but they were never truly that important. This felt like the first. Terrifying. Important. Special. In so many ways, she was already madly in love with Ben. She knew there would be so many more to discover. Of that she was certain.

Rey reached for his face, brushing dark hair away from his temples and running her nails across his scalp. His eyes fell closed under her touch, leaning into it. He covered her hand with his own, directing it to his heart. It was racing as fast as hers was. She shimmied free and moved his hand to her chest to show him. His eyes grew wider, lips parting in surprise.

'Rey,' he whispered. 'You're—'

'Yours.'

He gasped.

'Completely. Come and claim me, Ben. Please.'

He tore his eyes away from her to glance over her shoulder, eyes searching the darkness. She turned his head back to her.

'What are you looking for?'

'There are condoms in the nightstand.'

'I have an IUD.'

He paused, eyes uncertain. 'Are you sure?'

'I've never been more certain. I even had my bloodwork done. Just to be extra sure. All clear.'

'Me too. Beginning of the summer. I felt like an idiot, but I did it.' He chuckled. 'All clear.'

'Good.' She pressed her body to his, draping her arms around his neck and drawing him as close as she could. 'Kiss me, dammit. And this time, don't argue.'

He didn't argue. His lips found hers, opening immediately and snaking his tongue against hers. Their bodies moving against each other. Each brush pulling little grunts from him and sending a pleasant tingle through her body. His hands wandered her skin, up into her hair, down her back and legs. He took hold of her ass and began pressing her more roughly against him, breaking away from her mouth to trail kisses down her neck. Her skin was on fire everywhere they touched, the need inside her uncoiling until she thought it would drive her mad. He wrapped his lips around her breast and flicked his tongue against her nipple.

'Fuck,' she wheezed.

He took the other breast into his mouth, pinching the nipple between his teeth and tugging until she gasped. She couldn't take anymore. She needed him inside her. Needed all of him. Her fingers wrapped around his dark hair and pulled his head back. With her free hand, she reached between them, gripping his cock and rubbing the head against her sopping cunt. He moaned at the contact. She raised up slightly, his hand on her ass supporting her and angling him toward her opening. She felt him enter her, and she eased down until he was completely inside her.

'Holy shit,' he whispered.

She rose again and ground herself against him, and her legs trembled.

'Holy shit,' she echoed. 'Lie back.'

He did without hesitation A quick adjustment and she began to roll her hips against him. She could feel every inch of him sliding inside her. He let her control the rhythm. Tensing as she dropped onto him and arching just slightly as she slid herself free. Hitting her just right. The first hints of sunlight began to drift through the curtains, and she could see him more clearly now. The beads of sweat along his brow. His bottom lip red and swollen from all the times she'd bitten him. And the look of reverence in his eyes that tightened her chest and made her stomach clench.

He must have seen it in her eyes too because he pulled her down to him in a frenzy and kissed her like the world was going to end. His hips began to thrust into her. Pumping in time with hers, speeding them up to keep pace with their kisses. Her fingers wandered down his chest and up into his hair and down his strong arms. He skated up and down her back, tangling himself in her hair. Their bodies entwined, sweating, and hot and completely open to each other.

A ray of morning sunlight broke through the curtains, falling across Ben's face and lighting his dark eyes up until they were nearly golden. The words were in her mind, but she dared not speak them. How could they be true? How could he mean so much to her so quickly?

'Eight months.'

She wasn't sure if he'd said it or she had, but they both knew it was true. They'd been falling in love for eight months, and it might be madness, but there it was.

'I…' she began.

'I know,' he replied. 'I feel it too.'

The sun broke the horizon, the bright light stinging Rey's eyes. He turned them onto their sides, his broad body shielding her against the sunlight. He nestled her head into the crook of his arm and plunged into her, dragging a moan from her throat. The different angle pointed him right at her g-spot with each thrust. He moved faster this way. Pushing deeper and deeper every time but never causing her pain, just wave after wave of pleasure until every nerve ending in her body was singing.

All she could do was hold him close and moan into his shoulder until the pressure was too much and the heat in her core came flooding out. She cried out, her body tensing, her walls constricting around him. He cried out in response, holding her tighter. His final thrusts were completely out of control, and he came with her name on his lips.

They lay there, tangled up, utterly content for a long time. She kissed his shoulder, he kissed her forehead, and they clutched each other tighter. Mad as it was, she was glad she'd met him. There was so much they had to look forward to, and this was only the beginning.

_Fin._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Every author is different so I'm going to be explicit:
> 
> I love meeting new people so feel free to drop in with a comment, shoot me an e-mail (available in my profile) or send me a PM on Tumblr [@thoseindarkness](http://thoseindarkness.tumblr.com).
> 
> **MY COMMENT SECTION IS OPEN FOR ANY AND ALL POSTERS**
> 
> You are free to post anything you like in the comments of this story. Point out my grammar and spelling mistakes (I do make corrections where necessary). Talk about areas of the prose that you didn't quite understand/weren't clear. Give your personal opinions (positive or negative). Things you loved. Things you hated. If you felt the character was OOC and why. Things that made you uncomfortable. Things that made you scream at the top of your lungs. How hot I made you. Amazon style reviews (yes, I said it). You can also e-mail me or PM me on Tumblr if you don't feel comfortable posting publicly. My box is open (some pun intended).
> 
> I want you to say whatever you want. I'm the kind of writer that uses fan fiction as a method for expanding my skill. Your feedback is 24K gold to me no matter what kind. Negative feedback and criticism goes a lot further than "I really liked it." If you really liked it but don't have anything special to say, hit the kudos button. I'll know and I'll love you for it. If you have something to say: SAY IT!
> 
> You don't have to be afraid of hurting me. My skin is mythril, my bones are adamantium, and my heart is encased in unobtainium. Your words cannot hurt me, only make me stronger. I ask only that you not attack each other. I've painted the target on my own back. Please, don't miss.
> 
> BOMBS AWAY…


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